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ALICE 



GRAND DUCHESS OF HESSE 



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PRINCESS 



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GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH AND LETTERS 



WITH PORTRAIT 



NEW YORK & LONDON 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

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1884 



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TO 

HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS 
THE HEREDITARY GRAND DUKE 

AND TO 

THEIR GRAND DUCAL HIGHNESSES 

THE PRINCESSES 

VICTORIA, ELIZABETH, IRENE, ALIX 

OF HESSE AND BY RHINE 







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CONTENTS. 



Preface. By Her Royal Highness Princess Chris- 
tian ........ vii 

Childhood and Girlhood, 1843-62 .... 11 

In Her New PIome, 1862-65, 

1862 . . 31 

1863 '49 

1864 71 

1865 . . . 88 

At Home and at Work, 1866-72. 

1866 ......... 123 

1867 ......... 168 

1868 . o 199 

1869 P' . 216 

1870 235 

1871 ......... 266 

1872 ......... 284 

Trials, 1873-1877. 

1873 300 

1874 . . . . ■ . . -. . .321 

1875 • • 339 

1876 .,....„.. 348 

1877 ..,....., 356 

V 



VI 



CONTENTS. 



The End, 1878 
Concluding Remarks 



368 
383 



Appendix. 

A Watcher by the Dead ..... 391 
A Sketch in Memoriam, December 14, 1878. By 



Sir Theodore Martin, K.C.B. 
Lines in Memoriam ' . 



398 
406 





PREFACE. 



THE great affection with which my dear Sister 
has ever been regarded in this country, and 
the universal feeHng of sympathy shown at the time 
of her death, lead me to hope that the publication of 
this volume may not be unwelcome, containing as it 
does extracts from her letters to my Mother, togeth- 
er with a brief record of her married life. 

The short Memoir here translated from the Ger- 
man, with which the letters are interwoven, was 
written, as will be seen at a glance, not as present- 
ing any thing like a complete picture of my Sister's 
character and opinions, but merely as a narrative of 
such of the incidents of her life as were necessary to 
illustrate and explain the letters themselves. 

In these days, when the custom has become gen- 
eral of publishing biographies of all persons of note 
or distinction, it was thought advisable, in order that 
a true picture might be given of my Sister, that a 
short sketch of her life should be prepared by some 
one who was personally known to her, and who 
appreciated the many beautiful features of her char- 



viii PRINCESS ALICE. 

acter. The choice fell upon a clergyman at Darm- 
stadt, Dr. Sell. 

It would have been premature and out of place to 
attempt any thing like a complete picture of a char- 
acter so many-sided, or of my Sister's opinions on 
the affairs of Europe, in which she took the deepest 
interest, and on which she formed opinions remark- 
able for breadth and sagacity of view. The domestic 
side of her nature might alone for the present be 
freely dealt with ; and to help Dr. Sell in delineating 
this, my Mother selected for his guidance the extracts 
from my Sister's letters to her which appear in the 
present volume. There was no thought at first of 
making these extracts public, but they were found to 
be so beautiful, and to be so true an expression of 
what my Sister really was, that, in compliance with 
the request of the Grand Duke her husband, they 
were allowed to be translated and published, so that 
her subjects might see in them how great reason 
they had to love her whom they had lost. 

The letters in their original form are here given 
to the English public, and I am sure that all who 
read them will feel thankful to my Mother for thus 
granting them a closer insight into my dear Sister's 
beautiful and unselfish life. 

They will see in them also, with satisfaction, how 
devoted she was to the land of her birth, — how her 
heart ever turned to it with reverence and affection 
as the country which had done and was doing 
for Liberty and the advancement of mankind more 



PREFACE. ix 

than any other country in the world. How deep 
was her feehng in this respect was testified by 
a request, which she made to her husband in antici- 
pation of her death, that an Enghsh flag might 
be laid upon her coffin ; accompanying the wish 
with a modest expression of a hope, that no one in 
the land of her adoption could take umbrage at her 
desire to be borne to her rest with the old Enorlish 
colors above her. 

In any case I feel confident that the perusal of 
these letters must deepen the love and admiration 
which have always been felt for my beloved Sister in 
this country, where she ever thanked God that 
her childhood and youth had been tended with 
a wise love, that had fostered and developed all 
those qualities and tastes which she most valued and 
strove to cultivate in her later years. 

I had written these words, when another beloved 
member of our family, whose name often recurs 
in my Sister's letters, was suddenly taken from 
us, and from our country. Writing of my dear 
Brother to my Mother (February i, 1868) she said : 
" May God spare that young bright and gifted life to 
be a comfort to you for many a year to come ! " 
That life, which then hung trembling in the balance, 
was mercifully spared, not indeed for many a year, 
but long enough to make my Brother more beloved 
by his family and friends, and to enable him to give 
to his country some token of the good gifts with 



PRINCESS ALICE. 



which he was endowed. As he was the last of 
us to see my dear Sister in Hfe, so he has been the 
first to follow her into the Silent Land. 



HELENA. 



Cumberland Lodge : 

iSi'/i April, 1884. 




■(5^<r 



CHILDHOOD AiND GIRLHOOD. 

1843-1862. 

" I ever look back to my childhood and girlhood as the happiest time of 
life." — {i^th June, 1S69.) 

PRINCESS ALICE, as she is ever called in 
England, was born at Buckingham Palace on 
the 25th of April, 1843. She was the third child and 
second daughter of Queen Victoria and Albert, Prince 
Consort. At her christening, which took place at the 
Palace on the 2d of June, she received the names 
of Alice Maud Mary. Princess Sophia Matilda of 
Gloucester, niece of King George III., and sister-in- 
law to the Duchess of Gloucester, was one of her 
godmothers, and her Royal parents chose the name 
of Maud, which is the same as Matilda, on account 
of its being an old English name borne by the Em- 
press Maud, and other British princesses. The name 
of " Mary " was chosen because the little princess was 
born on the Duchess of Gloucester's birthday. 

The Archbishop of Canterbury officiated at the 
christening. The sponsors : the reigning King 



12 FlilNCESS ALICE. 

of Hanover, Ernest Augustus ; the Hereditary 
Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha ; Princess Sophia 
Matilda of Gloucester, sister-in-law to the Duchess 
of Gloucester, niece of George III.; and Feodora, 
Princess of Hohenlohe-Lanofenbure, half-sister to 
the Queen. 

The christeninof was, as the Oueen herself told 
her uncle, the King of the Belgians, when writing to 
him on the 6th of June, "a very imposing ceremony. 
Nothing could have gone off better, and little Alice 
behaved extremely well." * 

Though twenty-two years only have passed since 
the wholly unexpected death of Prince Albert de- 
prived the Queen of her devoted husband, the Roy- 
al children of a most loving and beloved father, and 
the whole nation of one of its wisest counsellors, his 
life, in the admirable biographical memorial by Sir 
Theodore Martin, forms already part of history, 
and by it we are enabled to form a just estimate of 
the perfect character and great intellectual abilities 
of the Prince, whom his daughter, Princess Alice, 
revered throuo-h life as her hiofhest ideal. 

Prince Albert, the second son of the then reienino- 
Duke of Coburg, was the very picture of manly chiv- 
alrous beauty. He was very young, not yet twenty- 
one years old, when he became the Consort of the 
Queen of England, who was only three months old- 
er. But by his strength of character and rare ener- 
gy of intellect, combined with a thorough self-con- 

* " Life of Prince Consort," by Sir Theodore Martin, vol. i., p. i66. 



CHILDHOOD AND GIRLHOOD. 1 3 

trol and an unswerving devotion to the duties of 
his position, he succeeded in gaining the love and 
esteem of a nation which, though it keeps watch 
over its rights and privileges with peculiar jealousy, 
knows also how to show great generosity, when 
once it has learnt to trust and to love. 

With his wonderful power of mastering new and 
difficult subjects he made himself familiar with the 
history and policy, the social and agricultural condi- 
tions, the industries and commercial relations of his 
adopted country. In his position of intimate confi- 
dential adviser to the Sovereign he showed the 
greatest tact, and gained the affection and respect of 
the Ministers who succeeded one another at the 
head of affairs ; whilst the more he became known 
the more his genuine worth was appreciated by the 
nation at large. 

Chief of all, two nations have acknowledged with 
grateful admiration, that under his influence there 
grew up in the midst of the most brilliant Court in 
Europe a domestic family life, so perfect in its purity 
and charm that it mis^ht well serve for a briofht ex- 
ample to every home in the land. Whilst sharing 
with the Sovereign all the labors and cares of state, 
the Prince made suitable changes and practical ar- 
rangements in the Royal Household, and, by stead- 
ily adhering to principles which he had at once recog- 
nized as the best, he succeeded in making life happy 
and peaceful to all around him. Thus it was that 
the Royal Family of England, whether residing in 



14 PRIiVCESS ALICE. 

the splendid palaces at Windsor, in London, or at 
Osborne, the lovely country seat in the Isle of 
Wight, or at Balmoral, surrounded by the sterner 
scenery of the Scotch Highlands, was enabled to 
enjoy a life of perfect tranquillity amidst the political 
tempests of the most turbulent decade of our times. 

The childhood of the Princess Alice was a very 
happy one, and much favored by circumstances. 
When she was a year old, her father mentioned her 
as "the beauty of the family," and as an extremely 
good and merry child. Her mother adds, *' she was 
a very vain little person." 

She developed naturally. At first she was not 
thought to be so highly gifted as later years proved 
her to be. Her father often used to speak of her as 
"poor dear little Alice," as if he had to take her 
part. She soon became a great favorite with all 
around her. Lady Lyttleton, who up to i85i was 
entrusted with the supervision of the Royal children, 
and to whose pen we owe so many accounts of that 
happy family life, writes as follows on the little 
Princess' fourth birthday : 

" Dear Princess Alice is too pretty, in her low 
frock and pearl necklace, tripping about and blushing 
and smiling at her honors. The whole family, in- 
deed, appear to advantage on birthdays ; no trades- 
man or country squire can keep one with such 
hearty simple affection and enjoyment. 07te 
present I think we shall all wish to live farther off : 
a live lamb, all over pink ribbons and bells. He is 
already the greatest pet, as one may suppose. 



CHILDHOOD AND GIRLHOOD. 1 5 

" Princess Alice's pet lamb is the cause of many- 
tears. He will not take to his mistress, but runs 
away lustily, and will soon butt at her, though she is 
most coaxy, and said to him in her sweetest tones, 
after kissing his nose often, ' Milly, dear Milly ! do 
you like me ? ' 

One of the main principles observed in the educa- 
tion of the Royal children was this — that though 
they received the best training, of body and mind, to 
fit them for the high position they would eventually 
have to fill, they should in nowise come in contact 
with the actual Court life. The children were 
scarcely known to the Queen's ladies-in-waiting, as 
they only now and then made their appearance for 
a moment after dinner at dessert, or accompanied 
their parents out driving. The care of them was ex- 
clusively entrusted to persons who possessed the 
Queen and Prince Consort's entire confidence, and 
with whom they could at all times communicate 
direct. The Royal parents kept themselves thor- 
oughly informed of the minutest detail of what was 
being done for their children in the way of training 
and instruction. 

After the first years of childhood were past, the 
Royal children were placed under the care of Eng- 
lish, French, and German governesses, who, again, 
were under a Lady Superintendent, and accompanied 
the children in their walks and watched over them 
during their games. 

To the lessons in foreign languages, music and 
drawing were soon added, for which the young 



1 6 PRINCESS ALICE. 

Princess showed a decided talent.* " Her copy- 
books were always neatness itself, and she wrote a 
very pretty hand." " Fresh, blooming, and healthy, 
escaping most of the illnesses of childhood, cheerful, 
merry, full of fun and mischief," she delighted in all 
bodily exercises, such as gymnastics, skating, etc. 
Above all, she was passionately fond of riding and 
of horses. She preferred playing with her brothers, 
and was bold and fearless as a boy. With all this, 
however, she soon showed proofs of real kindness of 
heart and of tender consideration for others. " I re- 
member well," a former dresser of the Queen's re- 
lates, "■ meeting the Royal children playing in the ^^ 
corridor, and, as I passed on, the Prince of Wales . 
making a joke about my great height, the Princess 
said to her brothers, but so that I should hear it : 'It 
is very nice to be tall ; Papa would like us all to be 
tall.' " " Her kindness of heart showed itself in all 
her actions when a child. Whenever she in the 
4east suspected that anybody's feelings had been 
hurt, she always tried to make things smooth again." 
" At Christmastime she was most anxious to give 
pleasure to everybody, and bought presents for each 
with her own pocket-money. She once gave me a 
little pincushion, and on another occasion a basket, 
and wrote on a little card with a colored border (al- 
ways in German for me) ' For dear Frida [now 
Madame Miiller], from Alice,' and brought it to me 
herself on Christmas Eve. I felt that she had 

* The memoranda in this paragraph are communicated by the Crown 
Princess of Germany. 




CHILDHOOD AND GIRLHOOD. 1/ 

thought how much I must have missed my home 
that day." 

The first journeys on which she, with her elder 
sister and brother, was allowed to accompany her 
parents are vividly described in the Queen's Journal. 
They were those to Ireland, in 1849, and, in i85o, 
to the Highlands ; and to the beauty and grandeur 
of Highland scenery she remained through life an 
enthusiastic devotee. 

Her intellectual faculties and the deeper qualities 
of her character did not, in her case, as, indeed, gen- 
erally hapnei^^ith high--spinted, healthy children, 

but almost from the nrst .she 
jties of -disposition which win all 
hearts and Ic-nd ;■ charm to daily life. 

Lit.le theatriLct. -^^j.ces performed by the Royal 
chilurer on festive anniversaries in the famiiv — partly 
too, with a view of gainiu'.; facility in fore^^n Ian 
guages — were the field in which the young Princess 
decidedly distinguished herself. No child ever per- 
formed the part of the High Priest Joad in Racine's 
" Athalie," with more dignity, and with a more pleas- 
ing intonation ; and a more delightful German Red 
• Ridinghood * than the Princess never appeared 
upon the stage. 

Of one of these performances, given in honor of 
the Queen and Prince's wedding-day in 1854, Bar- 
oness Bunsen gives the following description in her 
biography of Baron Bunsen. A tableau represent- 

* In a little piece of that name by Madame Jonas. ^ 



1 8 PRINCESS ALICE. 

ing the Four Seasons bad been studied and con- 
trived by the Royal children. " First appeared 
Princess Alice as the Spring, scattering flowers, and 
reciting verses, which were taken from Thomson's 
' Seasons ' ; she moved gracefully, and spoke in a 
distinct and pleasing manner with excellent modula- 
tion, and a tone of voice sweet and penetrating like 
that of the Queen." ^ 

It was during these years that Princess Alice 
formed her warm friendship for the Princess Louise 
of Prussia, now Grand Duchess of Baden, who re- 
cords her first impressions of the young Princess in 
the following words : 

" She was at that time most graceful in appear- 
ance — charming, merry, and amiable ; and though 
always occupying a subordinate place to her very 
gifted and distinguished sister, there never was the 
least semblance of a disagreement. Alice's cheerful 
disposition and her great power of observation 
showed themselves very early in the pleasantest 
manner, and she had a remarkable gift of making 
herself attractive to others. Her individuality was 
less decided and prominent than that of her sister, 
and she had a special charm of childhood grace. 
Our walks and drives together, the life in the school- 
room, the games in the corridors, or in dear old 
Baron Stockmar's room — these and all the pleasure 
and enjoyment of being together with the two sis- 
ters will ever remain amongst the happiest and most 
lasting of my recollections." 

The opening of the First Great Exhibition in 

*Bunsen's " Life," ii., 328. 



CHILDHOOD AND GIRLHOOD. 1 9 

1 85 1 — Prince Albert's own creation — was the occa- 
sion of a visit of the Prince of Prussia (the present 
Emperor of Germany) and his family to the English 
Court. This visit was repeated in 1853. Meanwhile 
an active correspondence had sprung up between 
the young friends, in which Princess Alice took a 
most active part. 

" Alice was now drawn more into the circle of 
the grown-up members of the family ; but, in 
spite of this, she retained all the fascination of her 
charming graceful ways. A great vein of humor 
showed itself in her, as well as a certain sharpness 
in criticising people who were not congenial to her. 
Many a little conflict took place in the schoolroom ; 
but while the individualities of the sisters became 
more and more distinct, their happy relations to one 
another remained unchanged. She was a great fav- 
orite with her brothers and sisters, though they 
knew she was fond of mischief. 

" To a naturally engaging manner quite excep- 
tional joyousness and power of showing affectionate 
emotion imparted an especial charm, which revealed 
itself in the fine lines of her face, in her graceful 
movements, and a certain inborn nobleness and dig- 
nity. Her attachment to my parents, ' Uncle Prus- 
sia ' and ' Aunt Prussia,' was truly touching." 

In 1 855 Princess Alice had her first serious illness 
— scarlet fever — caught from her younger sister, 
Princess Louise. She recovered easily, but for some 
time afterward a certain delicacy was observable. 
The accounts at that time are unanimous in describ- 
ing the peculiarly sweet development of her disposi- 



20 PA' I ACCESS ALICE. 

tion, and the manifestation of a true womanly inter- 
est in the works of charity and mercy. The feehng 
of acting independently for the good of others had 
been aroused in many ways in the Royal children. 
The Swiss Cottage at Osborne, in like manner, with 
its museum, kitchen, store-room, and little gardens, 
was made the means of learning how to do house- 
hold work, and to direct the management of a small 
establishment. 

The parents were invited there as guests, to par- 
take of the dishes which the Princesses themselves 
prepared ; and there, too, each child was allowed 
to choose its own occupation, and to enjoy perfect 
liberty. 

The life in the Highlands, free from the restraint 
of Court life, brought the Royal children into closer 
contact with the humbler classes, and called into 
play their sympathies for the poor. 

They were permitted to visit the humblest cot- 
tages — nay, even encouraged to do so. There it 
was, no doubt, that a feeling of pity for and an ardent 
desire to help the poor, the sick, and the needy, 
were first aroused in the Princess. We know how 
these early impressions led in later life to her found- 
inof some of the noblest and most beneficent insti- 
tutions. 

The blessings of a happy family life, — which gen- 
erally those only are allowed to enjoy who live in 
happy obscurity from the great world, — were fully 
appreciated by the Princess, as we may see from her 



CHILDHOOD AND GIRLHOOD. 21 

later letters, abounding in gratitude to her parents 
and brothers and sisters, and from the frequent 
references which she makes to this period of her 
life. 

The visits of the grandchildren to their beloved 
grandmother, the Duchess of Kent, old in years but 
young in spirit, at her residences at Frogmore (near 
Windsor), and Abergeldie (near Balmoral), had a 
peculiar charm for them. 

The first excursion the Princess made out of her 
native land was to Cherbourg,"^ when, with her 
brothers and sisters, she accompanied her parents. 
The lovely scenery about Cherbourg has become 
familiar to us through the descriptions given by the 
Queen. 

A great change in the life of the Princess took 
place through the engagement of the Princess Royal 
to Prince Frederick William of Prussia. Hitherto 
the Princess had in a great measure shared her sis- 
ter's studies and artistic occupations, and had had 
the same companions, taking quietly and naturally 
the second place. Now her sister's departure for a 
new home wrought an entire change in her life, 
throwing upon her, as it did, new responsibilities as 
now the eldest daughter at home, and placing her in 
a new position in relation to her parents, and par- 
ticularly to her father, whose constant care it was 
to imbue her with that sincerity and earnestness of 
purpose without which, to use his friend Baron 

* In 1857. See the " Life of the Prince Consort," vol. iv. 



22 PI?INCESS ALICE. 

Stockmar's words, " it was impossible to fill one's 
position in life happily, worthily, and with dignity." 

The closer intercourse with her father laid the 
foundation of that deep and intelligent love of plastic 
art and of music, for which she had already as a 
child shown a decided talent. Her appreciation of 
all that was best in the arts was fostered by the 
many treasures by which she was surrounded 
at Windsor Castle, and also by prosecuting her 
studies and practice in music along with the Prince 
Consort. 

The many great and stirring events of those 
years, the disturbance of Europe through the 
Revolutions of 1848 and 1849, and the Crimean 
war, took place when the Princess was already 
old enough to feel their gravity ; and served to 
awaken and foster the keen interest which she took 
in later years in all political occurrences. 

Another great European conflict was approaching, 
just about the time of her Confirmation, which took 
place on the 21st of April, 1859. Besides having 
been prepared for it by the Dean of Windsor (the 
Hon. and Very Rev. G. Wellesley), the Prince Con- 
sort himself had given the Princess Instructions, as 
he had previously done to the Princess Royal, from 
"A manual of Religion and of the History of the 
Christian Church," by Carl Gottlieb Bretschneider 
(formerly, " General Superintendent " in Gotha). 
The Prince's object in this was to encourage her in 
serious thought, and in independent reflections on 
religious questions. 



CHILDHOOD AND GIRLHOOD. 23 

The ceremony of the Confirmation, which was 
performed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, had 
barely been concluded, when the news arrived 
of the threatened invasion of Sardinia by Austria, 
which finally ended in the Austro-Italian war, so 
disastrous to Austria, of iSSg. 

The Queen makes the following remarks on this 
event, in a letter to her uncle, the King of the Bel- 
gians : 

u % * -X- gjj^. ^i^jg ^^jj j^Q^ jj^ ^^ least disturb 
our dear child's equanimity. She was in a most 
devotional state of mind — quiet, gentle, self-pos- 
sessed, and deeply impressed by the importance 
and solemnity of the event. She answered admir- 
ably at her examination, and went through the 
ceremony in a very perfect manner." * 

Not long before this the Queen had given her own 
opinion of her daughter in the following words : 

" She is very good, gentle, sensible, and amiable, 
and a real comfort to me. I shall not let her marry 
as long as 1 can reasonably delay her doing so." f 

In June i860 the Queen and Prince Consort 
received numerous guests at Windsor Castle for the 
Ascot races, amongst others the King of the Bel- 
gians and the two Princes, Louis and Henry of 
Hesse, the sons of Prince Charles of Hesse and 
nephews of the reigning Grand Duke. After they 
had left England, the Prince Consort mentioned 
to his valued friend Baron Stockmar, that there was 

* "Life of the Prince Consort," vol. iv., p. 429. \ Ibid., p. 427. 



24 PRINCESS ALICE. 

no doubt that Prince Louis and Princess Alice 
had formed a mutual liking, and that he quite 
expected it would lead to further advances from the 
young Prince's family. 

Judging by the favorable impression which the 
the manly and attractive Prince of twenty-three had 
made, the probable result was eagerly looked for. 

Before loniJf a letter from Princess Frederick Wil- 
Ham from Berlin announced that she had been in 
communication with Prince Louis' mother, Princess 
Charles of Hesse (cousin of the Prince Regent of 
Prussia), who had informed her of her son's great 
admiration for her sister. It was arransfed that, 
after the journey of the Queen and Prince Consort 
to Germany that autumn, the young Prince should 
pay a second visit to England ; and leave of ab- 
sence for him was to be obtained from the Prince 
Regent of Prussia.'^" This was done, and he arrived 
at Windsor Castle in November. On the 30th of 
November the Queen wrote as follows in her 
Diary : 

u % -X- =!: After dinner, whilst talking to the 
gentlemen, I perceived Alice and Louis talking 
before the fireplace more earnestly than usual, and 
when I passed to go to the other room, both came 
up to me, and Alice in much agitation said he had 
proposed to her, and he begged for my blessing. I 
could only squeeze his hand and say ' Certainly,' 
and that we would see him in our room later. Got 

* Prince Louis of Hesse was at this time serving in the Prussian Guards 
at Potsdam. 



CHILDHOOD AND GIRLHOOD. 25 

throLiofh the evenlni?' workino^ as well as we could. 
Alice came to our room '''" * ^' agitated, but 
quiet. * "''■ * Albert sent for Louis to his room ; 
he went first to him and then called Alice and me 
in. '"'' ^' "" Louis has a warm, noble heart. We 
embraced our dear Alice, and praised her much to 
him. He pressed and kissed my hand, and I em- 
braced him. After talking a litde, we parted ; a 
most touching, and to me most sacred, moment." "' 

As this was entirely a marriage of affection, the 
happiness of the " young people " was very great. 

Prince Louis stayed over Christmas, which this 
year seemed brighter to the whole family, from the 
accession of what her father termed " a beloved 
newly-bestowed full-grown son." " Our dear Bride- 
groom," as the Prince Consort calls the young 
Prince, left on the 28th of December. The parting 
was tearful, bilt full of hope, as he was to return in 
the spring. 

During the first happy weeks after her engage- 
ment. Princess Alice had spent the greater part of her 
evenings with her beloved grandmother, the Duchess 
of Kent, either reading or playing on the piano to 
her, as the Duchess' health did not allow of her 
dining at Windsor Castle. 

The Duchess' condition had become worse during 
the first months of the new year (1861), and she died 
on the 1 6th of March at the age of seventy-four, in 
the presence of her beloved and loving daughter, 
whose happiness and affection had been the joy of 

* " Life of the Prince Consort," vol. v., p. 253. 



.-•t' 



26 FHINCESS ALICE. 

her life, and also of her equally beloved son-in-law, 
and the Princess Alice. On this sad occasion, which 
she felt most deeply, Princess Alice showed the 
comfort and help she was fitted to be to her family 
in times of sorrow and anxiety. 

The Queen communicated to Parliament in a 
" Message " the contemplated marriage of the Prin- 
cess. The announcement was received with eeneral 
satisfaction. When, shortly afterward, the question 
of the Princess' " settlement " was laid before the 
House of Commons, the dowry of 30,000/., with an 
annuity of 6,000/., was voted without a dissentient 
voice. " She will not," writes her careful father, 
" be able to do crreat thino^s with it." 

In May, Prince Louis arrived at Osborne on a 
visit. Soon after, however, he fell ill with the 
measles. Prince Leopold caught them from him, 
and was very seriously ill. 

In the following month the whole family were for 
the last time together, including the two sons-in-law"^"" 
and the two grandchildren from Potsdam. 

Prince Louis paid another visit to England in Sep- 
tember, when he took part in those delightful expe- 
ditions in the Highlands, which were to be the last 
the Prince Consort made.f 

In December, in the midst of preparations which 
he was making for Princess Alice's future household, 
and for a journey of her brother, Prince Leopold, to 

* This is not quite correct. Prince Louis had left for Germany before the 
others arrived. 

f See " Leaves from a Journal," p. 204, et seq. 



CHILDHOOD AND GIRLHOOD. 2/ 

Cannes, the Prince Consort fell ill. Princess Alice 
was often with her father during his illness, reading 
to him, and in intimate communication with her 
mother. Soon, however, the illness developed into 
low fever, and the Prince, worn out by over-work 
and anxiety, had not strength to resist it, and died 
peacefully on the 14th of December, in the presence 
of the Queen, the Prince of Wales, and the Prin- 
cesses Alice and Helena. During the days of un- 
speakable sorrow which followed upon the death of 
the Prince Consort, it was Princess Alice above all 
who was a real support to her broken-hearted 
mother. The unanimous opinion of eye-witnesses 
as to what the Princess went through and achieved 
at this time is truly astonishing. 

" Herself filled with the intensest sorrow at her 
beloved father's death — and what a father ! what a 
head of a family ! what a friend and adviser to his 
wife and children ! — she at once took into her own 
hands every thing that was necessary in those first 
dark days of the destruction of that happy home. 
All communications from the Ministers and house- 
hold passed through the Princess' hands to the 
Queen, then bowed down by grief. She endeav- 
ored in every way possible, either verbally or by 
writing, to save her mother all trouble. The decision 
to leave Windsor for Osborne directly after the 
Prince's death, accordinof to the uro^ent wish of the 
King of the Belgians, and which it was so difficult 
and painful for the Queen to make, was obtained by 
the Princess' influence." 

The gay, bright girl seemed all at once to have 
chansfed into the thoughtful woman. 

o o 



28 FJ^INCESS ALICE. 

" It was the very intimate intercourse with the 
sorrowing Queen at that time which called forth in 
Princess Alice that keen interest and understandine 
m politics for which she v/as afterward so distin- 
guished. She also gained at this time that practical 
knowledge for organizing, and the desire for constant 
occupation, which in her public as well as in her 
private life became part of herself. The Princess 
suddenly developed into a wise far-seeing woman, 
living only for others, and beloved and respected by 
the highest as well as by the lowest. " 

It was at this time that the Times said of the Prin- 
cess : 

" It is impossible to speak too highly of the 
strength of mind and self-sacrifice of the Princess 
Alice during these dreadful days. Her Royal High- 
ness has certainly understood, that it was her duty to 
be the help and support of her mother in her great 
sorrow, and it was in a great measure due to her 
that the Queen has been able to bear with such 
wonderful resignation the irreparable loss that so 
suddenly and terribly befell her." 

The young "bridegroom" did not remain absent 
in those days, but arrived without delay. 

A touching trait is told by the same near relation 
of the Princess whose memorandum has just been 
quoted. As she was placing wreaths and flowers on 
the dear dead Prince, and both knelt down near him, 
she said in a heart-rending voice, " Oh ! dear Molly> 
let us pray to God to give us back dear Papa ! " 

The letters published in this volume will show 

* Memorandum by the Grand Duchess of Baden. 



CHILDHOOD AND GIRLHOOD. 29 

that the feeling of that Irreparable loss never left her 
through life, and our impression cannot be a false 
one, that it was this loss which brought out the deep 
earnestness of her character, and which made her 
feel that life was no light thing, but a time of proba- 
tion to be spent in earnest work and conscientious 
fulfilment of duty. 

She felt it to be a sacred duty to foster the recol- 
lections of her girlhood, and to carry out the princi- 
ples with which her father had embued her, whether 
in the cultivation of art and science, the encourage- 
ment of art manufactures, of agriculture and general 
education, in the tasteful and practical arrangement 
of her own house, in bettering the conditions of the 
lower and working classes by improving their homes 
and inculcating principles of health, economy, and 
domestic management. In short, in everyway open 
to her, did the Princess try to walk in her father's 
footsteps, and so to do honor to his memory. 

It is but natural that during the first weeks of her 
first great sorrow, and of her many new duties, the 
thought of her own future should have been put into 
the background. The preparations for her marriage, 
however, as well as for her household were contin- 
ued, according to the known intentions of the Prince 
Consort. The marriage was solemnized at Osborne 
on the I St of July at one o'clock. The Archbishop 
of York performed the ceremony in the absence of 
the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was prevented 
by illness from being present. 



30 PJ^INCESS ALICE. 

Besides her sorrowing mother, the Crown Prince 
of Prussia, all her brothers and sisters, the parents 
and brothers and sisters of the bridegroom, and a 
number of princely relations were present. The 
Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, in the place of her fa- 
ther, led the bride to the altar, whilst the bridegroom 
was accompanied by his brother. Prince Henry. At 
the conclusion of the ceremony, the Queen withdrew 
to her room. The oruests left the Isle of Wisfht in 
the afternoon, whilst the newly-married pair went 
with a small suit to St. Clare, near Ryde (belonging 
to Colonel and Lady Catherine Harcourt), where 
they remained three days. 

Oh the 9th of July, Prince and Princess Louis of 
Hesse left England, accompanied by the fervent 
prayers and good wishes of a devoted people, who 
never forgot what their Princess had been to them 
in their hour of trouble. 

What they felt found apt expression in the fol- 
lowing sonnet, which appeared in Ptuich at the time : 

Dear to us all by those calm and earnest eyes, 

And early thought upon that fair young brow ; 

Dearer for that where grief was heaviest, thou 
Wert sunshine, till He passed where suns shall rise 
And set no more ; thou, in affection wise 

And strong, wert strength to Her who even but now 

In the soft accents of thy bridal vow 
Heard music of her own heart's memories. 

Too full of love to own a thought of pride 
Is now thy gentle bosom ; so 't is best : 

Yet noble is thy choice, O English bride ! 
And England hails the bridegroom and the guest 

A friend — a friend well loved by him who died. 
He blessed your troth : your wedlock shall be blessed. 



IN HER NEW HOME. 
1862-1865. 

" Our life is a very, very happy one. I have nothing on earth to wish 
for. ... To be able to make a bright and comfortable home for my 
dear husband is my constant aim," — (14^/1 Feb. -\st March, 1864.) 

1862. 

MEANWHILE sorrow had fallen on the Grand 
Ducal family of Hesse also. Some weeks 
before the Princess' marriage (May 2 5), the Grand 
Duchess of Hesse (Princess of Bavaria) had died — 
a woman beloved for her amiable and generous 
qualities, deeply regretted by her husband, the 
Grand Duke Louis III., and mourned by all who 
knew her, high as well as low. Nevertheless, 
preparations had been made to give a brilliant re- 
ception to the newly- married pair. The whole 
country looked forward with anxiety to the arrival 
of the young Princess, of whom so much had been 
heard, and who, though English, was known to have 
a thoroughly sympathetic feeling for Germany. 

The Prince and Princess made a short stay at 
Brussels, and arrived at Bingen, on the Hessian fron- 
tier, on the 1 2th of July. 

A special train took them on to Mayence, where 
the first official reception took place. The Rhine 

31 



32 PRINCESS ALICE. 

was crossed in a gaily-decorated steamer, and at the 
last station before Darmstadt the Grand Duke and 
all the family received the Prince and Princess and 
accompanied them to Darmstadt. 

At half-past four in the afternoon the young mar- 
ried couple made their state entry into the town, 
through streets decorated with triumphal arches, 
flags, and flowers, amidst the peals of bells and the 
enthusiastic cheers of the assembled crowds, receiv- 
ing and acknowledging the many marks of respect 
and affection with which they were greeted. 

A mounted guard of honor headed the procession. 
The schools, the different guilds, the choral societies, 
the Turnvereine (gymnastic societies), and thousands 
of town and country folk lined the streets through 
which the Prince and Princess passed. 

The impression produced on every one by the 
young Princess' grace and sweet maidenly beauty, 
and bright winning, yet truly dignified, manner, was 
very great, and inspired the fairest hopes of what 
she would prove in her new home. What her own 
first impressions of that home were are given in the 
letters which follow. 

The circumstances of her new life were certainly 
very different from those to which she had been ac- 
customed as an English Princess. What she may 
have felt more keenly, as time went on, in the small 
but often-recurrins: differences between Enorlish and 
German life, did not oppress her at first. She had 
determined to make herself at home in her husband's 



IN HER NEW HOME. 33 

country, and she soon contrived to stamp on every 
room in her house the impress of her fine taste. 
That house was of the most unpretending character, 
situated in a quiet quarter of the town, near the 
palace of Prince and Princess Charles of Hesse. 
They had few servants besides those who came 
with them from England. 

A short visit to her uncle at Coburg-, a lengthened 
stay at Auerbach, — where the Prince and Princess 
had a small country house lent them by the Grand 
Duke, — and excursions to Heidelberg and Carlsruhe, 
occupied the Summer months. In September they 
went to Rheinhardtsbrunn in Thurinofia to meet the 
Queen, and it was then settled that they should 
spend the winter and spring in England with Her 
Majesty. The house the Prince and Princess were 
living in at Darmstadt was so small, that plans had 
at once to be made for a new palace of their own. 

On the loth of November they left Darmstadt, 
travelling by Coblenz and Cologne to Antwerp. 
Here the Queen's yacht, " Victoria and Albert " 
awaited them, and brought them to England, where 
they met with a most hearty reception from all classes. 

Royal Yacht, July 9th. 

Beloved Mama : — Before leaving the yacht I 
must send you a few lines to wish you once more 
good-bye, and to thank you again and again for all 
your kindness to us. 

My heart was very full when I took leave of you 
and all the dear ones at home ; I had not the cour- 
age to say a word, — but your loving heart under- 
stands what I felt. 



34 PRINCESS ALICE. 

Darmstadt, July 13th, 

Yesterday, after we reached Bingen, all the Hes- 
sian officers of state received us. At every station 
we received fresh people, and had to speak to them. 
At Mayence also, the beautiful Austrian band played 
whilst we waited, in pouring rain, which only ceased 
as we reached Darmstadt. The station before, the 
Grand Duke, Prince and Princess Charles with their 
children. Prince Alexander and his wife, received us 
— all most kind and cordial. 

At the station we were again received ; the whole 
town so prettily decked out ; the Biirger [Burgesses 
Escort] rode near our carriage ; countless young 
ladies in white, and all so kind, so loyal ; in all the 
speeches kind and touching allusions were made to 
you, and to our deep grief. I believe the people 
never gave so hearty a welcome. We two drove 
through the town ; incessant cheering and shower- 
inor- of flowers. We orot out at Prince and Princess 
Charles' house, where the whole family was assem- 
bled. 

We then went to our rooms, which are very small, 
but so prettily arranged, with such perfect taste, all 
by my own dear Louis ; they look quite English. 

We then drove to Bessungen for dinner enfam- 
ille. * * * 

We were listening to twelve Sangervereine [Cho- 
ral Unions] singing together yesterday evening — 
two hundred people ; it was most beautiful, but in 
pouring rain. Some came up-stairs dripping to 
speak to us. The Grand Duke gave me a fine dia- 
mond bracelet he and his wife had ordered for me, 
and showed me all over his rooms. 

To-morrow we receive the Standesherren [Princes 
and Counts] and the gentlemen of .both Houses. 



IN HER NEW HOME. 35 

My thoughts, rather our thoughts, are constantly 
with you, beloved Mama, Please give my love to 
all at home ; it is impossible to write to them all. 

July i6th. 

* * * It is extremely hot here. The last two 
days we rode out at eight in the morning in the 
wood, where the air is very pleasant, near the 
ground where the troops are drilled. On Monday 
we looked on, and the soldiers were so much flat- 
tered. 

At half-past one on Monday we received the gen- 
tlemen of the Upper House, then the Lower House, 
then the Fliigeladjutanten [aides-de-camp], then the 
Stadtvorstand [Town Council], then about seventy 
officers, then a deputation of the English here. All 
these people I had to speak to e7i grande toilette, and 
at four we drove to a large dinner at the Schloss. 
The Grand Duke led me, and I always sit near him. 

Yesterday at three the whole family drove to See- 
heim, a lovely place in the mountains, to dinner with 
the Grand Duke. In the two villages we passed, 
flowers were showered upon us, and the Pfarrer 
[clergyman] made a speech. 

I am really deeply touched by the kindness and 
enthusiasm shown by the people, which is said 
to be quite unusual. They wait near the house to 
see us, and cheer constantly — even the soldiers. 

We then drove for tea, which is always at eight, 
to Jugenheim to Prince Alexander, whose birthday 
it was, and did not get home till lo. 

The whole family are very amiable toward me, 
and Prince Alexander is most clever and amusing. 

Darling Louis is very grateful for your kind mes- 
sages. We talk and think of you often, and then my 
heart grows very heavy. Away from home I can- 



36 PRI^'CESS ALICE. 

not believe that beloved Papa is not there ; all is so 
associated with him. 

July TQth, 

Beloved Mama : — Many thanks for your last kind 
letter, and all the news from home ; dear Baby 
[Princess Beatrice] is the only one you have men- 
tioned nothing- of, and I think of her so often. 

Some people are coming to us at one, and then 
the whole Ministerium [Administration]. It is really 
so difficult to find something to say to these peo- 
ple, and they stand there waiting to be spoken to. 

Yesterday we received a deputation from Gies- 
sen, with a very pretty dressing-case they brought 
us as a present. 

On Thursday we went incognito with Prince Al- 
exander and his wife to Frankfort. The town is 
decked out most beautifully, and countless Schiitzen 
[riflemen] are walking about in their dress. We 
dined at the Palais and then sat in the balcony. 

I have just taken leave of dear Lady Churchill and 
General Seymour."'^" They have made themselves 
most popular here, and the people have been very 
civil to them. 

Louis and I have begun reading " Westward Ho," 
together. 

The Grand Duke went all the way to Kranich- 
stein for me the other day, and walked about till he 
was quite hot. He has forbidden my visiting the 
other places until his return, as he wishes to lead 
me about there himself. I do not see very much of 
the other relations save at meals ; and, having our 
own carriages, we two drive together mostly alone. 
We have tea usually out of doors in some pretty 
spot we drive to. 

* Afterward Marquis of Hertford, who died on the 25th of January, 1884. 



IN HER NE W HOME. 3/ 

These lines will find you in Windsor. I went out 
this morning and tried to find some of those pretty 
wreaths to send you, but could get none. Please 
put one in St. George's * from me. It is the first 
time you go to that hallowed spot without me ; but 
in thought and prayer I am with you. May God 
strengthen and soothe you, beloved Mama, and may 
you still live to find some ray of sunshine on your 
solitary path, caused by the love and virtue of his 
children, trying, however faintly, to follow his 
glorious example ! 

I do strive earnestly and cheerfully to do my duty 
in my new life, and to do all that is right, which is 
but doing what dear Papa would have wished. 

July 2oth. 

Thousand thanks for your dear long letter of 
the 1 8th just received. How well do I understand 
your feelings ! I was so sad myself yesterday, and 
had such intense longing after a look, a word from 
beloved Papa ! I could bear it no longer.- Yet hovu 
much worse is it not for you! You know, though, 
dear Mama, he is watching over you, waiting for you. 
The thoucrht of the future is the one sustaininor, en- 
couraging point for all. " They who sow in tears 
shall reap in joy " ; and the great joy will be yours 
hereafter, dear Mama, if you continue following that 
bright example. * ■^'"' '""" 

We usually get up about quarter or half-past sev- 
en, and take some coffee at eight. Then we either 
go out till ten or remain at home, and till twelve I 
write and arrange what I have to do. 

At one, when we return from breakfast, we usually 
read together. I have still a great many people to 
see, and they usually come at two. 

* St. George's Chapel, Windsor, where the Prince Consort rested until re- 
moved to the Mausoleum at Frogmore. • ■ 



38 FHINCESS ALICE. 

At four is dinner, and at half-past five we are 
usually back here, and occupy ourselves till six or 
seven, then drive out somewhere for tea at eight, 
walk about and return at a quarter or half-past ten. 
We do not waste our time, I assure you, and Louis 
has a good deal to do at this moment. 

Mr. Theed's bust of dear Papa must be very lovely. 
I am curious to hear what you think of Marochetti's."^^ 
It will be very sad for you to see. 

A fortnight already I am here, and away from my 
dear home three weeks ! How much I shall have to 
tell you when we meet. My own dear Mama, I do 
love you so much ! You know, though silent, my 
love and devotion to you is deep and true. If I 
could relinquish part of my present happiness to 
restore to you some of yours, with a full heart would 
I do it ; but God's will be done ! God sustain my 
precious mother ! is the hourly prayer of her loving 
and sympathizing child. 

July 24th. 
-X- * * You tell me to Speak to you of ;;2y happi- 
ness — our happiness. You will understand the feeling 
which made me silent towards you, my own dear be- 
reaved Mother, on that point; but you are unselfish 
and loving and can enter into my happiness, though 
I could never have been the first to tell you how in- 
tense it is, when it must draw the painful contrast 
between your past and present existence. If I say I 
love my dear husband, that is scarcely enough — it is 
a love and esteem which increases daily, hourly ; 
which he also shows to me by such consideration,- 
such tender loving ways. What was life before to 
what it has become now? There is such blessed 

* The recumbent statue of the Prince Consort, now in the Mausoleum at 
Froe:more. 



IN HER NEW HOME. 39 

peace being at his side, being his wife; there is such 
a feehng of security ; and we two have a world of 
our own when we are together, which nothing can 
touch or intrude upon. My lot is indeed a blessed 
one ; and yet what have I done to deserve that 
warm, ardent love, which my darling Louis ever 
shows me? I admire his good and noble heart 
more than I can say. How he loves me, you know, 
and he will be a good son to you. He reads to me 
every day out of*' Westward Ho," which I think very 
beautiful and interesting. 

This morning I breakfasted alone, as he went out 
with his regiment. I always feel quite impatient un- 
til I hear his step coming up-stairs, and see his dear 
face when he returns. 

Yesterday, and the previous night, I thought of 
you constantly, and of our last journey together to 
dear Balmoral. Sad, painful though it was, I liked 
so much being with you, trying to bear some of 
your load of sorrow with you. From here I share 
all as if I were really by your side ; and I think 
so many fervent prayers cannot be offered to a 
merciful lovino- God without His sendingf alleviation 
and comfort. 

Please remember me to Grant, Brown, and all of 
them at home in dear Scotland, and tell them how 
much I wish, and Louis also, that we were there, 
changed though every thing is. 

July 25th. 

* '^ ^ People say we may still have the Palais, 
but I doubt it. I am going to tell the Grand Duke 
that we return to England in autumn (not only 
for your sake, but principally because I do not wish 
to incommode our parents any longer, and because 
in the winter we could not even receive people 
here). 



40 PEINCESS ALICE. 

The only thing I shall regret in our not remaining 
here is, that the people feel it so much, and they are 
most kind ; but they will see and understand that it 
cannot be otherwise, and that it does not arise from 
ill will on our part. 

* * * Cecile and Michael ''''■ were here yester- 
day, so kind and so full of real sympathy toward you, 
which they begged me to express to you. He has 
such warm feelings ; and they admired and loved 
dear Papa, though they saw him but little. 

Darmstadt, August ist. 

•«■ ^ * jYjy heart feels ready to burst when 
I think of such sorrow as yours. I pray my adored 
Louis may long be spared to me. If you only knew 
how dear, how loving he is to me, and how he 
watches over me, dear darling! 

To-morrow we go to Coburg, which was an 
old promise. Dear Uncle sent only two days ago to 
say he left Coburg on the 5th, and would v/e not 
come before } You will understand that, happy be- 
yond measure as I am to go there, a lump always 
comes into my throat when I think of it — going for 
the first time with Louis to dear Papa's house, where 
but recently he showed us every thing himself. f 
Dear Mama, I think I can scarcely bear it — the 
thouo:ht seems so hard and cruel. He told us as 
children so much of Coburg, spoke to us of it with 
such childlike affection, enjoyed so much telling 
us every anecdote connected with each spot ; 
and now these silent spots seem to plead for his 
absence. 

To see the old Baron [Stockmar] will be a great 

* Grand Duke and Grand Duchess Michael of Russia. Tlie Grand Duke 
Michael is uncle of the present Emperor of Russia. 

f This was in the autumn of i860. 



IN HER NEW HOME. 4 1 

happiness, and that Louis should make his acquaint- 
ance, 

Calenberg bei Coburg, August 4th. 

Once more in dear Coburg, and you can fancy 
with what feeHngs. Every thing reminds me of 
beloved Papa and of our last happy visit. 

We are living here, and yesterday we spent all the 
afternoon and dined at the Rosenau. It was a 
lovely day, and the view so beautiful. We went all 
over the house and walked about in the Qrrounds. 
We walked to dear Papa's little garden, and I picked 
two flowers there for you, which I enclose. 

Every spot brought up the remembrance of some- 
thing dear Papa had told us of his childhood ; it 
made me so sad, I can't tell you. Uncle Ernest was 
also sad, but so kind and affectionate, and they both 
seemed so pleased at our having come. 

Every thing about dear Papa's illness, and then of 
the sad end, I had to tell. I lived the whole dread- 
ful time over again, and wonder, whilst I speak of 
it, that we ever lived through it. 

At nine o'clock church service was in the pretty 
little chapel. Holzei read, and Superintendent 
Meyer preached a most beautiful sermon, the text 
being where our Saviour told his disciples they must 
become as a little child to enter into the kingdom of 
heaven. He spoke with his usual fervor, and it was 
most impressive. I saw him afterward, and he en- 
quired very much after you. 

We are going after breakfast to the Festung, and 
then Louis and I are going to see the dear Baron 
[Stockmar]. 

Darmstadt, August 6th, 

Dear Beloved Mama : — Can you give me no ray 
of hope that you in some way, bodily or mentally, 



42 FHIArCESS ALICE. 

feel better ? It makes my heart ache bitterly, to 
hear those sad accounts you give of yourself, though 
I well know what for you life without hint must be ! 
God comfort you ! is my constant prayer. 

We saw the dear old Baron for some time. The 
meeting was sad on both sides ; he was very kind, 
but so desponding as to every thing ! In England 
and abroad he looks at every thing in a black light, 
and was full of complaints about himself. He asked 
much after you, and is anxious to see you again. 

August 9tb. 

Next Monday we are going to Auerbach, to live 
there for a little time. It lies in the Bergstrasse, and 
is very healthy. The Grand Duke allows us to 
inhabit one of the houses. 

August i6th. 

How I long to read what Mr. Helps has written 
about Papa ! What can it be but beautiful and ele- 
vating, if he has rightly entered into the spirit of that 
pure and noble being ? '^' 

Oh, Mama ! the longing I sometimes have for 
dear Papa surpasses all bounds. In thought he is 
ever present and near me ; still we are but mortals, 
and as such at times long for him also. Dear, good 
Papa ! Take courage, dear Mama, and feel strong in 
the thought that you require all your moral and 
physical strength to continue the journey which 
brings you daily nearer to Home and to Him / I 
know how weary you feel, how you long to rest 
your head on his dear shoulder, to have him to soothe 
your aching heart. You will find this rest again, 
and how blessed will it not be ! Bear patiently and 

* This refers to Mr., afterward Sir, Arthur Helps' Introduction to the 
" Collected Addresses and Speeches of the Prince Consort," which wasthen 
about to be published (Murray, 1862). 



IN HER NEW HOME. 43 

courageously your heavy burden, and it will lighten 
imperceptibly as you near him, and God's love and 
mercy will support you. Oh, could my feeble words 
bring you the least comfort ! They come from a 
trusting, true, and loving heart, if from naught else. 

AuERBACH, August i6th. 

* * * We do feel for you so deeply and would 
wish so much to help you, but there is but One who 
can do that, and you know whom to seek. He 
will give you strength to live on till the bright day 
of reunion. * * * 

AUERBACH, August 2ISt, 

* * * Our visit to Giessen * went off very 
well. The people were most loyal. We went to 
see the Gymnasts, and Louis walked about amongst 
them, which pleased them very much. He is very 
popular there, and I am very glad we both went, for 
it made a good impression. '^ 

We drove to Louis' property, Stauffenberg, a 
beautiful (alas ! ruined) castle, which by degrees he 
is having restored, and which will be a charming 
house for us, if it is finished, which can only be done 
gradually. 

AUERBACH, August 23d. 

* * * Try and gather in the few bright things 
you have remaining and cherish them, for though 
faint, yet they are types of that infinite joy still to 
come. I am sure, dear Mama, the more you try to 
appreciate and to find the good in that which God 
in His love has left you, the more worthy you will 
daily become of that which is in store. That 
earthly happiness you had is indeed gone forever, 
but you must not think that every ray of it has left 

* During a musical and gymnastic festival. 



44 PRINCESS ALICE. 

you. You have the privilege, which dear Papa 
knew so well how to value, in your exalted position, 
of doing good and living for others, of carrying on 
his plans, his wishes into fulfilment, and as you go 
on doing your duty, this will, this must, I feel sure, 
bring you peace and comfort. Forgive me, darling 
Mama, if I speak so openly ; but my love for you is 
such that I cannot be silent, when I long so fervently 
to give you some slight comfort and hope in your 
present life. 

I have known and watched your deep sorrow with 
a sympathizing, though aching heart. Do not think 
that absence from you can still that pain. My love 
for you is strong, is constant ; I would like to shelter 
you in my arms, to protect yow from all future 
anxiety, to still your aching longing ! My own 
sweet Mama, you know I would give my life for 
you, could I alter what you have to bear ! 

Trust in God ! ever and constantly. In my life I 
feel that to be my stay and my strength, and the 
feeling increases as the days go on. My thoughts of 
the future are bright, and this always helps to make 
the minor worries and sorrows of the present dissolve 
before the warm rays of that light which is our guide. 

AuERBACH, August 25tb, 
* * * To-day is the Ludwigstag, a day kept 
throughout the country, and on which every Ludwig 
receives presents, etc. ; but we spend it quite quietly. 
Louis' parents and the others are comiing to break- 
fast, and remain during the day. Louis is out riding. 
We always get up early. He rides whilst I write, 
and we then walk together and breakfast somewhere 
out of doors. 

We went to the little church here yesterday, which 
is very old, and they sang so well. 



IN HER NEW HOME. 45 

I drew out of doors also, as it was very fine ; but 
it is very difficult, as it is all green, and the trees 
are my misfortune, as I draw them so badly. I play 
sometimes with Christa * ; she plays very well. 

August 26th [Prince Consort's Birthday]. 

With a heavy heart do I take up my pen to write 
to you to-day — this dear day, now so sad, save 
throusfh its brio-ht recollections. I cannot bear to 
think of it now, with no one to bring our wishes to, 
with that painful silence where such mirth and 
gaiety used to be. It is very hard to bear, and the 
first anniversary is like the commencement of a new 
epoch in our deep sorrow. 

When your dear present was brought to me this 
morning, I could not take my eyes from it, though 
they were blinded with tears. Oh, those beautiful, 
those loved features ! There wants but his kind look 
and word to make the picture alive ! Thousand 
thanks for it, dear Mama. 

How trying this day will be for you ! My thoughts 
are constantly with you, and I envy the privilege the 
others have in being near you and being able to do 
the least thing for you. 

The sun shines brightly in the still blue sky ; how 
bright and peaceful it must be where our dear Spirit 
dwells, if it is already so beautiful here. 

September 5th. 

* * * Two days ago Louis and I went to 
Worms. Whilst he went to his regiment, which 
the Grand Duke came to inspect, I went to the Dom, 
which is most beautiful ; and then went in a little 
boat on the Rhine, which was charming. It took us, 
driving, an hour and a half from Auerbach to 
Worms. 

* The Princess' lady, Baroness Christa Schenk. 



46 PRINCESS ALICE. 

AuERBACH, September 7th. 

* * * For Louis' birthday we are going to 
Darmstadt ; it is getting cold and damp here, and 
the house is small. We take our meals in another 
house, and it is cold to walk over there of an eve- 
ning. Think of us on the 12th. It was such a happy 
day last year.* 

I have such Heimweh [yearning] after beloved 
Papa ; it is dreadful sometimes when I think of him 
and of our home. But he is so happy in his bright 
home, could we but catch a glimpse of him there. 
Dear Grandmama [the Duchess of Kent], too, is 
constantly in my thoughts lately. I can see her be- 
fore me — so dear, kind, and merry. As time goes 
on, such things only mingle themselves more vividly 
with one's usual life ; for it is their life which is 
nearest us again, and not their death, which casts 
such a gloom over their remembrance. 

AuERBACH, September nth. 

* * * How beautiful Heidelberg is ! we went 
all over the Castle, and with such glorious weather. 
There is one side still standing, built and decorated 
by a pupil of Michael Angelo, which dear Papa ad- 
mired so much. How do I miss not beine able to 
talk to beloved Papa of all I see, hear, feel, and 
think ! His absence makes such a gap in my ex- 
istence. 

Darmstadt, October T3th. 

* * * Our visit to Baden was charming, and 
dear Fritz and Louise f so kind ! Louis and I were 
both delighted by our visit. The Queen, the 
Duchess of Hamilton, and Grand Duchess Helena 

* Prince Louis was then at Balmoral. 
f Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Baden. 



IN HER NEW HOME. 47 

were there, besides dear Aunt [Princess Hohenlohe], 
and Countess Bliicher. The two latter, dear and 
precious as ever. 

We left yesterday morning ; spent three hours 
with Grand Duchess Sophie, who is the most agree- 
able, clever, amiable person one can imagine. It 
gave me real pleasure to make her acquaintance. 
Aunt Feodore's house, though small, is really very 
pretty, and her rooms are hung full of pictures. I 
saw Winterhalter also, in his lovely new house, 
which he has gone and sold, saying it was too good 
for him. He has painted a most beautiful picture of 
the Grand Duchess Helene — quite speaking. 

* -sf * J ^p-^ going to make my will before 
leaving. I do not like leaving (for England) with- 
out havinpf done something. 



to" 



Darmstadt, October 17th. 

First of all, thousand thanks from Louis and me 
for your having allowed dear Arthur'"" to come with 
us. I cannot tell you what pleasure it has been to 
me to have that dear child a little bit. He has won 
all hearts, and I am so proud when they admire my 
little brother, who is a mixture of you and adored 
Papa. 

Darmstadt, October 23d. 

* * ■J5- -^y-g intend probably leaving this on 
Saturday, the 8th, remaining until the loth at Cob- 
lenz, from whence we go direct in eleven hours and 
three-quarters to Antwerp, leaving Antwerp the 
morning of the 12th, to reach Windsor that even- 
ing or the next morning. 

We always continue reading together, and have 
read Hypatia, a most beautiful, most interesting, 

* Duke of Connaught, then twelve years old. 



48 PRINCESS ALICE. 

and very learned and clever book, which requires 
great attention. 

I have the great bore to read the newspapers 
every day, which I must do ; see Dr. Becker * from 
eleven to twelve ; then I write, and have constantly 
people to see, so that I have scarcely any time to 
draw or to play. I also read serious book to my- 
self. 

Louis would like to go to Leeds and Manchester 
from Osborne, as he wants to go to London from 
Windsor. I shall accompany him sometimes. 

October 25th, 
As you come later to Windsor, we shall not leave 
till the loth, remain the nth with the Queen, then 
go direct to Antwerp. If the weather is bad we 
shall wait. Then on the 14th or i5th we shall be at 
Windsor, which we prefer to coming to Osborne. 
We hope this will suit you. 

All are full of lamentations at our departure, and 
for so long, which is most natural ; but they are very 
kind. We have a family dinner in our little room 
to-day, which is large enough for a few people. 
The Grand Duke has quite lost his heart to Arthur, 
and Bertie [Prince of Wales] pleased him also very 
much. 

In talking together last night, Louis said what I 
feel so often, that he always felt as if it must come 
right again some time, and we should find dear Pa- 
pa home again. In another home we shall. 

October 30th. 
The Grand Duke was quite overcome when I 
gave him the photographs, and with Baby's [Prin- 
cess Beatrice's] he is quite enchanted, and wishes 

* The Princess Alice's private secretary. 



IN HER NEW HOME. 49 

me to tell you how grateful he is, and how much he 
thanks you. You cannot think how pleased he was, 
and the more so that jou sent them him. He has a 
warm heart and feels very much for you, and takes 
a warm interest in all my brothers and sisters. 

I am glad you are going to see dear Fritz of Ba- 
den ; he will be so pleased. We shall see Louise at 
Coblenz. 

The plans for our house have come, and even the 
simplest is far above what we poor mortals can 
build. 

November 6th, 

■«• * * Yesterday, Mrs. Combe, widow of 
Geors^e Combe and daughter of Mrs. Siddons, came 
to see me and was with me some time. She is a 
clever, amiable old lady. It gave me such pleasure 
to see and talk with her. Will you tell Sir James 
Clark so, as she is an old friend of his. 



1863. 

Each visit to her old home seemed to give fresh 
life to Princess Alice, and it can therefore be easily 
understood how great her happiness was at being 
again under her mother's roof and care, there to 
await the realization of her fondest hopes. 

It was also a great comfort to the Princess to 
spend the first anniversary of her father's death with 
her family around her. -j 

On the 1 8th of December, 1862, the remains of 
the Prince Consort were placed in a temporary sar- 
cophagus, in the centre of the newly-erected mauso- 
leum at Frogmore in the presence of the Prince of 



50 PRINCESS ALICE. 

Wales, Prince Arthur, Prince Leopold, and Prince 
Louis of Hesse. 

Prince Louis occupied much of his time during his 
long stay in England in making a number of inter- 
esting visits to the chief industrial centres, and to 
military arsenals and depots. 

Princess Alice met with a carriage accident on the 
last day of the old year, which happily was followed 
by no bad consequences. 

On the loth of March, 1863, the Prince of Wales 
was married to the Princess Alexandra of Denmark, 
at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, in the pres- 
ence of the whole Royal family. It was the first 
Royal marriage which had been celebrated in 
that chapel since the marriage of Henry L, in 
1122. 

Soon after, on Easter Sunday, the 5th of April, 
1863, Princess Louis of Hesse gave birth to a 
daughter at Windsor Castle. This event was made 
known next day at Darmstadt by the firing of 
twenty-one guns. The best possible news con- 
tinued to be received of the well-doing of mother 
and child. 

The little Princess was christened on the 27th of 
April, at Windsor, by the Hessian Court chap- 
lain. Bender. She received the names of Victoria 
Alberta Elizabeth Matilda. The Princes Alexan- 
der and Henry of Hesse represented the Grand 
Ducal family at the christening. 

Princess Alice completed her recovery during a 



IN HER NEW HOME. 5 I 

Stay at Osborne in May, and while there was able to 
accompany the Queen on a visit to the Military Hos- 
pital at Netley. 

After a short stay in London, Prince and Princess 
Louis of Hesse and their little daughter returned to 
Darmstadt. They spent the summer months at 
Kranichstein, a shooting-lodge near Darmstadt, be- 
longing to the Grand Duke. The Princess employed 
her time in becoming better acquainted with her 
adopted country, its inhabitants, their customs, and 
ways of thinking. 

The Congress of German Potentates and Princes 
at Frankfort, in August, brought the Princess in con- 
tact with many crowned heads. She proved herself 
her father's true child in regard to politics. The 
Prince Consort had always longed for an united 
Germany, with Prussia at its head, and a Liberal 
constitution. Princess Alice's letters will show how 
truly German her feelings were in the Schleswig- 
Holstein question, which at that time, owing to the 
death of King Frederick VPI. of Denmark, and the 
claims made by his successor. King Christian IX., 
to the succession in the Duchies also, assumed a 
European interest, and led to consequences of 
permanent importance in the history of Europe. 
The accounts of the manner in which the Prince and 
Princess Louis endeavored to fulfil their social duties 
throw a significant light upon the way in which the 
young Princess discharged her duties as the mistress 
of her home. 



52 PRINCESS ALICE. 

In August the Princess met Queen Victoria at 
Coburg ; and afterward had the happiness of re- 
ceiving Her Majesty and her sisters Helena, Louise 
and Beatrice, and her brother Alfred, on a short visit 
at Kranichstein. 

A few weeks later the Prince and Princess with 
their child joined the Queen at Balmoral, where 
nearly all the members of the Royal family were as- 
sembled. 

In November they returned to Darmstadt, where, 
during their absence, the new palace had made rapid 
progress, and was roofed in. It was built on a site 
given by the Grand Duke, and after plans designed 
by the Princess herself. The arrangement of the 
interior was entirely carried out by herself in a man- 
ner both practical and artistic. 

In December, Prince Louis' only sister, Anna, 
was enofaeed to be married to the Grand Duke of 
Mecklenburg-Schwerin, an event which gave great 
satisfaction at the time. The Princess spent her 
first Christmas in Germany this year — 1863. 

Marlborough House, May i^ih. ■ 
Dearest Mama : — Our parting this morning was 
most painful to both of us— from you to whom we 
owe so much, and whom we love so dearly. 

May God comfort and support you, beloved 
Mama, on your sad and weary pilgrimage ! 

Marlborough House, May i6th. 
I could not get your dear face and your sweet 
voice out of my mind for an instant, and everywhere 
I thought I must see you or dear Papa. It seemed 



IN HER NEW HOME. 53 

SO strange ; I had the tears in my eyes all day. The 
worst was the opera, for I had never been without 
you or Papa, and all was the same and yet so 
different. 'It was very trying to me ; and so 
will the drawing-room be to-day. * * * j saw 
Lady Jocelyn, Duchess of Manchester, Sir Charles 
Locock, and Lord Alfred Paget, to show them baby, 
and all find her like what we all were. How much 
we have to thank for in her name. Your affection 
for her and all you have done for her have touched 
us more than I can say. It seemed to me quite 
wrong to take her from you. 

On Wednesday, Alix [Princess of Wales] and 
myself go to the studios. This morning we drove 
in Battersea Park. 

May 19th. 

* * * The drawing-room was long, but Alix 
and I were not so tired, considering the length of 
time, for we stood, excepting twenty minutes, in the 
middle, when there was a block and the people could 
not come. 

In to-day's letter you mention again your wish 
that we should soon be with you again. Out of the 
ten months of our married life five have been spent 
under your roof, so you see how ready we are to be 
with you. Before next year Louis does not think we 
shall be able to come ; at any rate when we can 
we shall, and I hope we shall be able to see you for a 
day or two in Germany to divide the time. 

Darmstadt, May 23d. 

* * * Baby ^ has been so much admired, and 
all the clothes you gave her. 

* Princess Victoria of Hesse. 



54 PRINCESS ALICE. 

Darmstadt, May. 

I sha'n't have time to write more than a few words, 
as we have just returned from church and are going 
to Mayence till Wednesday. The Grand Duke came 
all the way to Kranichstein yesterday to g-o about 
with us, and see how to arrange it comfortably. He 
is most kind, and sat an hour with me. 

We have received two deputations this morning, 
and my things, which ought to have been here be- 
fore us, only arrived to-day. 

Mayence, June 2d. 

There was a large dinner yesterday ; the Nassaus 
dined here, and this morning we have been to Bie- 
brich. The Duke and Duchess, Nicolas Nassau, 
Marianne of Prussia, ^^ her sister the Duchess of 
Altenburg, and Landgrave William were there. 
They were most kind and civil. We hurried back 
in time for dinner. The Grand Duke is most kind, 
has taken me everywhere about himself — into the 
Dom, into several shops, etc. 

Now when I return I shall have to unpack and 
pack again for Kranichstein, and arrange the house 
there, which has not been lived in for eighty years, 
so that for writing I have barely a moment. 

I have good accounts of baby, whom all the old 
gentlemen run out of their houses to look at, when 
she walks in the garden, and try to tell Moffat [her 
nurse] what they think of her, but she of course un- 
derstands nothing. 

Darmstadt, June 3d. 

I write to you to-day, as Louis is going for all day 
to Worms to-morrow, and I am croino" to Tup-enheim 
to Uncle Alexander. It is already warm here, and 
we are going in a day or two into the country. 

* Princess Frederick Charles, mother of tire Duchess of Connaught. 



IN HER NEW HOME. 55 

The Queen of Prussia passes through here to-day, 
and I shall probably hear from her what her inten- 
tions are about England, I have received a splendid 
bracelet from the Empress of Russia — for baby's 
picture. She is said to be far from well. 

Darmstadt, June 6th. 

* ^ '^ Louis was away from four o'clock yester- 
day morning till eleven at night. He was at Worms 
with Uncle Louis. Tuesday is his birthday, and we 
shall very likely go on M9nday to Mayence, as 
Uncle Louis is always wishing for us. 

I took a walk at Jugenheim yesterday with Uncle 
Alexander, his wife and children, of more than two 
hours, and it was so beautiful, and numberless little 
birds sino-inof. Uncle Alexander was so Qrrateful for 
all your kindness, and was above all so charmed 
with you. It always makes me so happy to be able 
to talk about you, and to hear you appreciated 
as you ought to be, darling Mama. 

June 8th, 

* * * Baby sits up quite strong, and looks 
about and laughs. She has got on wonderfully, and 
she is so good. She was an hour with us yesterda)^ 
evening wide awake, and so good. She is as well 
and as strong as any child could be. To-day we go 
to Mainz, and to-morrow night from thence to Kran- 
ichstein. All our beds must be moved meanwhile, 
as there are none in the house. 

Kranichstein, June 12th. 
Louis went at six this morning to Darmstadt for 
the inspection of his regiment by Uncle Louiso 
Princess Charles' birthday is on the i8th. The 
Grand Duke will be at Friedbero-, and we are to gro 
for the day, which will be rather tiring, as it is a 



56 PRINCESS ALICE. 

good way by rail and back again, and we have to 
wait an hour at Frankfort. 

Louis is Qroincf to take his seat in the Chamber on 
the 23d. He was unable to do so last year, as we 
left for England two days before the time. 

June 19th. 

* * * You ask me again if I occupy myself 
much and seriously ? Not a moment of the day is 
wasted, and I have enough to read and to think about : 
what with the many and different papers, and inter- 
esting books. Dr. Becker comes daily, and I have 
a good deal to look after. 

We have a dinner to-day — Prince and Princess 
Charles, Uncle Adalbert, Anna, William, and the 
suites. 

June 23d. 

* * * You will be amused to hear that I have 
taken a little black (a Malay) into my service. He 
is a dear good boy, was brought over two years ago 
by a gentleman, to whom he was given away by his 
own parents as a mark of gratitude for some service 
done. This man has had him here two years, but 
has never had him taught any thing. He has no re- 
ligion, and can neither read nor write. I am going 
to have him taught, and, later, christened. He is 
very intelligent, thirteen years old. 

We shall remain here for the present ; we go 
about a good deal seeing things near by, and then it 
is the first time we have our household and stable, 
so that on account of Haushakung [housekeeping], 
etc., we are going to remain here for a little time. 
It is very pleasant besides, and constant moving is 
far too expensive for us. We give dinners here, 
which are also useful, as I know so few people. 



IN HER NEW HOME, 5/ 

Some of the Standesherren are coming to-morrow, 
and later some of the Abgeordneten [Deputies] of 
the Second Chamber, which will give us an oppor- 
tunity of making the acquaintance of some of the 
Liberals in the country. 

I cannot get rid of my rheumatism, which is so 
unpleasant. 

Louis is very busy ; he reads to me sometimes 
out of Lord Macaulay's last volume of the English 
History, which I had not yet read. Twice a week 
Louis takes drill with his cavalry regiment, and he 
has to ride out at six in the morning, as it is some 
way off. 

June 27th. 

* * * I bathe every morning and swim about; 
there is a nice little bathing-house. 

I hear baby shrieking out of doors ; she does not 
cry very much, but she is very passionate. She 
was vaccinated two days ago by Dr. Weber, and I 
am going to be done next week ; the small-pox is 
at Darmstadt, and a man died of it yesterday. Louis 
is very industrious and busy ; he has all the papers 
of the Stande [State papers] to read and look 
through, and reads other useful books, besides 
papers and other things which he must read. He 
wrote to Lord Derby to express his thanks for hav- 
mof been made a Doctor at Oxford. He takes a 
great deal of exercise, ridine, walking", rowino-, swim- 
ming. We get up at six every morning, and go to 
bed after ten. 

Louis has always a good deal to do at home, and 
a good many things which would never be expected 
of him in England. He knows the necessity and 
importance of working. I hope next month Uncle 
Ernest '^ will come to us for a day on his way back 

* Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. 



58 PRINCESS ALICE. 

from Homburg. He has asked us for a few days to 
the Calenberg whilst you are in Germany, and then 
in the winter we hope to be for a few days at Gotha. 

The Liitzows,^'* and Miss Seymour dine with us 
to-day. 

June 30th. 

Lady Fife is at Homburg, and is coming to dine 
with us. To-morrow all the family and some other 
people come to dinner. We have seen a good many 
people ; we receive in the morning or for dinner. 

Dalwigk gave a large soiree in the woods, with 
a supper for us, last night. All the Standesherren 
and Foreign Ministers were there. 

To-morrow is our dear wedding-day. With what 
gratitude do I look back to that commencement of 
such happiness, and such real and true love, which 
even daily increases in my beloved husband. Oh, 
may we not be deprived of it too soon ! I admire 
and respect him for his true-hearted, generous, un- 
selfish, and just nature ! Oh, dear Mama, if you 
only knew how excellent he is ! I wish I were good 
like him, for he is free from any selfish, small, or 
uncharitable feelings. You should see how he is 
beloved by all his people ; our servants adore him. 
I open my heart to you, who have so warm and 
sympathizing a heart, that even in the midst of such 
deep grief and sorrow as yours will listen to what 
your children, who love you dearly, long to say. 

Our little one is grown so pretty ; she has little 
pink cheeks, and is so fat and so good-humored. I 
often think her like you when she smiles. 

July 2d. 
You can fancy how much we thought of this day 

* Count Lutzow was at this time the Austrian Minister and Plenipoten- 
tiary at the Court of Darmstadt. 



IN HER NEW HOME. 59 

last year, and of you and all the love and kindness 
you showed us then. How truly we both love you, 
and, when we can, how willingly we shall come to 
your side, and be of the least use to you, you know, 
for I feel for you and with you, more than words can 
describe. 

Our first large dinner yesterday went off very well. 
We make our arrangements, sitting, etc., all as you 
and dear Papa had it, which is new here, but I am 
happy to say, approved of. We always dine at four. 
Baby appeared afterward, and really never cries 
when she is shown, but smiles, and seems quite 
amused. She is immensely admired, particularly 
for her healthy appearance and fine large eyes. I 
really think her like you now ; she is very much 
changed, and, when she sits up, looks so pretty and 
dear. 

To-day we have again a dinner. There is a fine 
dining-room and drawing-room here, so that we can 
see a good many people. 

July 4th. 

Shortly we are going to pay Prince Solms-Lich,the 
president of the First Chamber, a visit. He is very 
liberal on the whole, rich, and a nice old gentleman. 
He knew Grandpapa in the year 1820, also Uncle 
Charles, Uncle Hohenlohe, Aunt Feodore, and Eliza. 
Lady Fife, Annie, and Mr. Corbett from Frankfort 
are coming to us to-day. 

The Grand Duke of Weimar was here yesterday 
for dinner at the Schloss. 

What you said about Germany is so true ; and 
Louis has the real good of his country near at heart. 
They always have to vote for or against what the 
Second Chamber brings forward, and the other day 
a vote was sent in from the Liberals for an altera- 



60 PRINCESS ALICE. 

tion of a press law. Only one voice in the whole 
Chamber was for it, which was Louis', and this pro- 
duced a very good effect among the Liberals. He 
is no coward, and will say what he thinks, if it is 
necessary, even if all are against him. 

Kranichstein, July 15th. 

To-day is Uncle Alexander's birthday, and we 
have to drive for dinner to Seeheim. To-morrow 
morning we leave for Lich at five in the morning. 

Two nights ago a horrid and schcuicrliches [ap- 
palling] event took place here. I went out about 
eight down to the pond, which is close to the house, 
to meet Louis. I met an odd-looking pale man, who 
neither bowed nor lookedabout, walking slowly along ; 
and when I joined Louis he asked me if I had seen 
him, as he had been prowling about all the after- 
noon. We stopped a little longer, when at the end 
our grooms were running. We rowed on to see 
what was the matter, and on coming near, a body 
was floating in the water, the face already quite blue 
and lifeless. I recosfnized him at once. Louis and 
the others with trouble fished him out and laid him 
in our boat to bring him on shore. It was very 
horrid to see. We brought him on shore, tried all 
means to restore him to life, but of no avail. He 
was carried into the stable. He had committed 
suicide, and we heard afterward that he was a very 
bad character. You can fancy that it was very un- 
pleasant to me, to have that disfigured corpse next 
me in the boat ; and it haunts me now, — for a vio- 
lent death leaves frightful traces, so unlike any thing 
else. But half or quarter of an hour before, I had 
passed that man in life, and so shortly after to see 
him floating by quite lifeless ! It brings death be- 
fore one in its worst form, when one sees a bad man 



IN HER NEW HOME. ■ 6 1 

die by his own hand. The indifference with which 
the other people treated it, and dragged him along, 
was also revolting to one's feelings ; but one must be 
manly, and not mind those things ; yet I own it 
made me rather sick, and prevented my sleep that 
night. 

I am glad we are going away for a few days ; the 
change will be pleasant. 

It was such a pleasure to me to have seen dear 
Lady Frances Baillie the other day, and she was 
looking well, though she is very thin. 

You kindly gave me our dear Papa's Farm-book 
for the Farmers' Union here ; the people are so 
touched and pleased. I send you the letter of thanks 
to read. 

LiCH, July 1 8th. 

* * * We leave to-morrow afternoon for Frank- 
fort, and the next day we go to Homburg on the 
way home. The Prince and Princess are most kind 
and civil ; they have a fine Schloss, and are rich. 
The latter is clever and amiable, and the young peo- 
ple — their nephews and nieces — are very nice and 
very kind. It is a fine, rich country, and they seem 
very much beloved. The sister of the Princess, 
Princess Solms-Laubach, nee Biidingen, is here also. 
Her husband was in the Prussian service, and they 
lived at Bonn whilst dear Papa was there. He came 
to see them and to spend the evening there very 
often. She told me how handsome he then was, 
and how much praised and liked by all. She asked 
after Rath Florschiitz,* and Eos,f and if dear Papa 
continued later on to be so sleepy of an evening, 
as he was even then. 

* Tutor of the Prince Consort during his boyhood and early youth. 
\ A favorite greyhound of the Prince Consort's, which he brought to Eng- 
land at the time of his marriage. 



62 PRINCESS ALICE. 

Kranichstein, July 21st, 

Our visit at Lich went off very well. Every thing 
is so vornehm [in such good style] and so well 
arranged. 

July 23d. 

We are going to give Heinrich * a rendezvous 
somewhere, perhaps at Kreuznach, which is not very 
far. On August ist, we are going to the north of the 
country, — a part which I do not know, — and on the 
way we stop at Giessen, where we have been invited 
to see an agricultural exhibition. On Monday we 
give a tea and a dance — between fifty and sixty 
people. The advantage of this place is its nearness 
to Darmstadt, and that there is room enough to re^ 
ceive people. 

The Russian and French ambassadors, with their 
wives, and Mr. Corbett and Lord Robert S. Kerr, 
dine with us to-day. 

July 27th. 

I have no news to give. To-night we give our 
first large party — seventy people. 

August I St. 
Yesterday we were all day at Rumpenheim : so 
kindly received ! The Landgrave, his two brothers, 
Frederic and George, the Dowager Duchess of 
Mecklenburg-Strelitz, her daughter Duchess Caroline, 
Aunt Cambridge, Mary, Augusta, and Adolphus ; 
Fritz and Anna of Hesse and good Princess Louise, 
kindness itself. Aunt Cambridge was very amiable, 
and spoke most tenderly of you. To-morrow morn- 
ing Louis goes to Oberhessen, where I join him in 
two days. I go to see Uncle Alexander at Jugen- 
heim ; go on Monday to Friedberg, where there is 

* Prince Henry of Hesse, brother of Prince Louis. 



IJSr HER NEW HOME. 63 

an asylum for blind people, of which I am Protectorin 
[Patroness]. I go to see it, and sleep at the Castle. 
The next day I stop on my road to see Marburg, 
and shall be in the -evening at Alsfeld, where I find 
Louis. The next day I go on to Herr von Riedesel 
at Altenburg, where I breakfast, and I dine and 
spend the night with another Riedesel family at 
Eisenbach. Louis joins me that evening. The next 
day we go on though the country, as the people are 
anxious to see us, and the country is very beautiful. 
On Thursday and Friday we shall be at Giessen, on 
Saturday at home. 

Giessen, August 7th. 

I am very hot and tired ; • we have only just 
reached this place, and have to go out almost immedi- 
ately to see the animals and machines. 

Our journey has been most prosperous, but rather 
tiring, and the heat quite fearful. We were most 
kindly received everywhere. English, Hessian, 
German flags everywhere, and Gesangvereine of an 
evening. 

Last night we slept at Schotten, and posted from 
thence to-day through a lovely, rich, wooded, and 
mountainous district, the Voeelsbere. 

We have had but one room everywhere, and 
have remained only long enough at a place to see it, 
so that writing has been impossible. To-morrow 
evening we return to Kranichstein, and then I will 
write to you an account of every thing. Here, with 
no time, and with such heat and noise, it is impossible^ 

Kranichstein, August 9th. 

* * * We went, when I last wrote to you at 

Giessen, to see the different machines at work, in a 

crowd close round us and a smothering heat. It 

was interesting, though, in spite of all. The people 



64 PRINCESS ALICE. 

cheered and were very civil. That day, at the meet- 
ino- of the aofriculturists, Count Laubach told me 
dear Papa's book lay on the table, and is of the 
greatest use and interest. I am so pleased to have 
been the first in Germany to make known some- 
thing of Papa's knowledge in this science, one of 
the many in which dear Papa excelled. The people 
are so grateful to you for having sent it. In the 
evening the president and some other scientific gen- 
tlemen came to tea with us. I was so glad to see 
how pleased the people were at the interest Louis 
takes in these things. A procession was really very 
pretty ; large carts, decorated with the different agri- 
cultural emblems, peasants in their different cos- 
tumes — it was something quite new to me. 

At Marburg, I saw in the beautiful church the 
grave of St. Elizabeth, the castle where she lived, 
and many other things which Kingsley mentions in 
his " Saint's Tragedy." 

This week the Emperor of Austria and other po- 
tentates came to Frankfort. The Kino- of Prussia 
has refused, so that now, as it is not a universal 
meetinof, it will not be what it miofht have been. 

August 19th. 

* * * The Emperor came all the way to 
Kranichstein to pay us a visit, and is very amiable, 
though not very talkative. Archduke William, 
King Max, and the Duke of Brunswick were also 
here yesterday. 

We saw the procession to the Romer from a small 
room, already filled by twelve Rumpenheimers ! It 
was a very interesting sight. 

August 2ISt. 

* * * This evenine all the crowned heads 



IN HER NEW HOME. 65 

nearly are coming to the opera, and the Rumpen- 
heimers very hkely also. Uncle Ernest comes to us 
for dinner, and we take him with us. 

August 24th, 

* * * We dined at Homburg yesterday after- 
noon with the old hereditary Grand Duchess of 
Schwerin, Louis' great-aunt, who is eighty-six, and 
as fresh and lively as ever. The Duke of Alten- 
burg and the Grand Duke of Schwerin were with us, 
and both of them wish to have their respectful duty 
sent to you. 

[During the months of September and October 
the Princess was in Encrland on a visit to the 
Queen.] 

Buckingham Palace, October 28th. 

Thousand thanks for your dear lines ! How sad 
that we should be reduced to writing again ! It was 
such a happiness to speak to you, and in return to 
hear all you had to say, — to try and soothe you, and 
try to make your burden lighter. I always feel sep- 
aration from you so much, for I feel for and with 3^ou, 
more, oh, far more, than I can ever express! I can 
only say again, trust, hope, and be courageous, and 
every day will bring something in the fulfilment of 
all your great duties, which will bring you peace, 
and make you feel that you are not forsaken, that 
God has heard your prayer, felt for you, as a loving 
Father would, and that dear Papa is not far from 
you. 

We remain here to-night, as Louis had a bad 
sick-headache, toothache, and so on, and he must 
rest. We leave to-morrow afternoon. 

Afifie [Prince Alfred] and William (of Hesse) 



66 PRINCESS ALICE. 

were very well, and seem quite happy togetuer. 
Affie sends love, and William his respects. 

Darmstadt, November 2d. 

Before going- out (half-past six) I begin these 
lines. You will have heard what an awful passage 
we had. Christa and I had one of those cabins near 
the paddle-box, and good old May"''" was with us. 
Each wave that broke on the ship Christa and I 
groaned, and May exclaimed : " Oh, goodness, gra- 
cious me ! what an awful sea ! Lord bless you, child, 
I hope it is all safe ! " and so on. If we had not 
been so wretched, and had not looked so awful with 
those mountains of waves about us, I should have 
laughed. All the maids and Moffat were sick. Baby 
was sick all over her nice new shawl, which was 
a great grief. 

Uncle Louis and Uncle Gustav received us at the 
station. My parents-in-law don't return till Wednes- 
day. Yesterday Uncle Louis gave us a large din- 
ner, and to-day he dines enfamille in our house with 
Prince Adalbert of Bavaria, Uncle Gustav,f and 
ourselves. 

I was quite done up by this journey. At four in 
the morning Vv^e changed carriages at Cologne, and 
did not get here till past twelve o'clock — twenty-nine 
hours under way. 

November 5th. 

■5C- * Ji: Yesterday evening Louis and I were at 
a chemical lecture, which was very interesting, by 
young Hallnachs, the brother of the one Becker 
spoke to you about. 

Our house is getting on very well, and we are often 
there. 

* Mrs. Hull, a former nurse of the Princess and her brothers and sisters. 
f Prince Gustav Wasa, first cousin to Prince Charles of Hesse. 



IN HER NEW HOME. 6/ 

Louis is very grateful and touched by your kind 
message, and kisses your hand. He is often away 
for those tiresome Jagden [shooting-parties] from 
five in the morning till eight at night, as it is some 
way off. 

November 14th. 

It is not yet eight, and I have such cold fingers; 
The messenger leaves at nine, so I must write now. 
We are going to Mayence to-day, to see a house of 
our architect Kraus, which is said to be very pretty 
and very English. 

I paid Becker and his mother a visit yesterday. 
Their rooms are so nice, pictures and presents from 
you and dear Papa in all directions, remembrances of 
past, such happy, years ! 

Yesterday also I drove baby out in my little car- 
riage. She sat on Christa's knees and looked about 
her so rriuch ; she went to sleep at last. 

November 17th. 
* * ^- Yesterday I was all the morning with 
Julie Battenberg buying Christmas presents. To-day 
also I am much occupied. We get up at seven, with 
candles, every morning, as this is the best time 
for doing all business, and breakfast at eight. 

November 21st. 

-X- % ^i T\\^ Holstein question, I fear, will lead 
to war. Fritz' * rights are so clear. And I am 
sure all Germany will help him to maintain his 
rights, for the cause is a just one. 

I am sure, dear Mama, you are worried to death 
about it, which is very hard, for you cannot undo 
v/hat once exists. Any thing only to avoid war ! It 
would be a sad calamity for Germany, the end 
of which no one can foresee. 

* The late Duke Frederic of Augustenburg. 



68 PRINCESS ALICE. 

My baby has this morning cut her first tooth, and 
makes such faces if one ventures to touch her Kttle 
mouth. 

To-day I am going- to visit the hospital in the 
town, which is said not to be good or well looked 
after. I want to be able to do something for it, and 
hope to succeed, for the people have plenty of 
money, only not the will. The Burgomaster and 
Gemeinderath [the Town Councillors] will meet me 
there. 

I have just called into life what did not exist — 
that is, linen to be lent for the poor women in their 
confinements, and which I hope will be of use to 
them, for the dirt and discomfort is very great in 
those classes. 

November 28th. 

* * * My visit to the hospital was very inter- 
esting, and the air was good, the place clean and 
fresh. There were few people dangerously ill there, 
and they looked well taken care of. Air and water 
are making their way into these places to the benefit 
of mankind. 

I was so much distressed the other day ; for the 
poor man who fell in our house has died. He was 
a soldier, and so respectable and industrious, not 
above twenty-four. This is already the second who 
has died in consequence of a fall. 

Our visit to Carlsruhe was very pleasant. The 
Queen [of Prussia] was there, and we spoke so 
much of you together. She enters quite into all 
your feelings, and perfectly understands all the sad 
trials and difficulties of your position in addition to 
your just and natural grief. 

November 30th. 

A few words of love and affection from us both on 



IN HER NEW HOME. 69 

this dear day — the third anniversary of the com- 
mencenient of all our happiness, which dear Papa 
and you enabled us to form. 

Those happy days at Windsor and those awful 
days the year after ! I assure you the season, the 
days, all make me sad — for the impression of those 
two years can never be wiped out of my mind. I 
can write but a few lines, as to-morrow we leave for 
Amorbach, and to-day I go with Louis out shooting. 
It is cold and fine, as it was two years ago. 

Darling Mama, again and again we thank you and 
beloved Papa for all your love to us at that time. 

Amorbach, December 2d. 

* * * We arrived here at half-past four yes- 
terday, after a bitter cold drive in an open carriage 
over hard roads, all being frozen, since ten in the 
morning. The country we came through was beauti- 
ful, though ail white, up and down hill all the way, 
through many villages, through woods, etc. The 
house is large and comfortable, full of souvenirs of dear 
Grandmama [Duchess of Kent], of Uncle Charles. 

I am so pleased to be with Ernest and Marie,* 
it is a bit of home again. 

Darmstadt, December 6th. 

* * * Our visit to Amorbach was so pleasant, 
though the weather was bad. I was so happy to be 
once more with Ernest and Marie. Edward f was 
very amusing and good-natured. I saw poor old 
Wagner, J who wishes me to send you his duty. 

December 8th. 

* * * Think, only yesterday evening at a 

* Prince and Princess of Leiningen. f Prince Leiningen's brother. 

\ Former tutor to Prince Leiningen's father. 



70 PRINCESS ALICE. 

concert they played " Ruy Bias," which I had not 
heard since Windsor. The room, the band, dear 
Papa, all came before me, and made my heart sink 
at the thought that that belonged to the brig-ht recol- 
lections of the past ! I cried all the way home. 
Such trivial things sometimes awaken recollections 
more vividly, and hurt more keenly, than scenes of 
real distress. I am sure you know what I mean. 

December 12th. 

* * * I must close ; my tears fall fast, and I 
ought not to make you sadder, when you are sad 
enough already. Pray for me when you kneel at 
his grave — pray that my happiness may be allowed 
to last long ; think of me when you kneel there where 
on that day my hand rested on your and Papa's dear 
hands, two years ago. That bond between us both 
is so strong, beloved Mama. I feel it as a legacy from 
him. 

December 22d. 
A great pleasure I have had in arranging a tree for 
our good servants. I bought all the things myself at 
the market, and hung them on the tree ; then I also 
eot things for darlinof Louis. 

December 26th. 

* * * We all had trees in one large room in 
the Palace, and our presents underneath it looked 
extremely pretty. Uncle Alexander's five children 
were there, and made such a noise with their play- 
things. 

Baby had a little tree early at her Grandpapa and 
Grandmama's, with all her pretty things. 

Many thanks for the turkey-pie ; we give a dinner 
to-day in honor. 



IN HER NEW HOME. 7 1 

1864. 

The year 1864 was a most eventful one for Ger- 
many. After a severe struggle, the Duchies of 
Schleswie-Holstein were wrested from the control of 
the German Confederation or Diet at Frankfort, and 
occupied by Austrian and Prussian troops. The 
Princess' own life that year was full of joyful events, 
and no cloud of sorrow came to disturb her hap- 
piness. 

The marriage of Princess Anna of Hesse, which 
took place on the 1 2th of May, was a cause of great 
rejoicing to the family. 

During the first months of the year the Prince and 
Princess paid several short visits to Gotha, Carlsruhe, 
and Munich, and in the summer spent three happy 
months in England. 

On their return to Germany they received numer- 
ous guests at Kranichstein. But in spite of the many 
social duties and distractions in which the Princess 
took an active part, she never lost sight of more 
serious duties and pursuits. She became the " Pro- 
tectress " of the " Heidenreich Institution for Lying- 
in Women," which was the beo^innino^ of the active 
interest afterward taken by her in all sanitary im- 
provements. This interest was heightened by the 
birth of her second daughter, who was born on the 
1st of November, 1864, and christened on the 28th 
of that month, receivinsf the names of Elizabeth 
Alexandra Louise Alice. The Princess was very 
proud of being able to nurse her child herself, and 



72 PRINCESS ALICE. 

from this time she took up with the keenest interest 
all questions relating to the physical, mental, and 
moral training of children. She found an able sup- 
porter and independent adviser in Dr. Weber, a very 
eminent medical man, resident at Darmstadt. 

January 5th. 

* * * The cold here is awful. I skated yes- 
terday, and to-day we are going to the pond at 
Kranichstein. (Very few people skate here — only 
one lady, and she very badly.) Baby only goes out 
for half an hour in the middle of the day, well 
wrapped up. It would not do to keep her quite at 
home, as she would become so sensitive when first 
taken out again. Of course when it is windy or too 
cold she stops in. 

January 9th. 
I was aofhast on receivinof Bertie's telesfram this 
morninof announcing the birth of their little son. Oh, 
may dear Papa's blessing rest on the little one ; may 
it turn out like dear Papa, and be a comfort and a 
pride to you, and to its young parents ! Your first 
English grandchild. Dear Mama, my heart is so 
full. May dear Alix and the baby only go on well ! 

January i6tli. 

* * * Baby says " Papa," " Mama," and yester- 
day several times " Louis." She imitates every thing 
she hears, all noises and sounds ; she gets on her 
feet alone by a chair, and is across the room before 
one can turn round. Her adoration for Louis is 
touching. She stops always, since the summer, 
alone in our room, so she never cries for Moffat [her 
nurse], and is very happy on the floor with her play- 
things. She is a very dear little thing and gets on 



IN HER NEW HOME. 73 

very fast, but equally in all things, and is as fat as 
she was. It is so interesting- to watch the progress 
and development of such a little being ; and baby is 
so expressive, she makes such a lace when she is not 
pleased, and laughs so heartily when she is con- 
tented. She is more like a child of two years old a 
ofreat deal. 

GoTHA, January 22d. 
After a very cold journey we arrived here on 
Wednesday afternoon. I found dear uncle and 
aunt well, Leopoldine (who is very dear and nice) 
and Hermann,'"- Edward and Marie Leiningen, and 
Prince Lowenstein here. Only Hermann and Leo- 
poldine live in the Castle besides us ; the others are 
all at uncle's house. 

January 30th. 
* * * These poor Schleswig-Holsteiners do 
what they can to liberate themselves from the Danish 
yoke, and to regain their lawful sovereign, Fritz. 
And why is England, who stands up for freedom of 
countries, who in Italy, where there was less cause, 
did what she could to liberate the country from her. 
lawful sovereigns, to do what she can to prevent the 
Schleswig-Holsteiners from liberating themselves 
from a king who, has no right over them, merely be- 
cause they are unfortunate good-natured Germans, 
who allow themselves to be oppressed ? 

February 5 th. 

In the distance, dear Mama, one really cannot 
judge correctly of reasons for or against things, 
when one does not exactly know how every thing 
stands. 

* Prince and Princess Hermann of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. 



74 PRINCESS ALICE. 

February 14th. 

* * * We have been in sledges to-day, and 
everybody drives about the town with them ; it sounds 
so pretty, all the jingling bells. 

* * * Shakespeare's words came home to 
him — 

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. 

Thank God, my husband has none ! I thank the 
Almighty daily for our peaceful homely life, in which 
sphere we can do a good deal of good to our fellow- 
creatures, without having to mix in those hateful 
politics. 

Our life is a very, very happy one. I have noth- 
ing on earth to wish for, and much as I loved my 
precious Louis when I married him, still more do I 
love him now and daily ; for his character is worthy 
of love and respect, and a better husband or father, 
a more unselfish and kind one, there does not live. 
His love for you, you know ; and on our return 
how o-lad we shall be to be near vou once more. 

February i6th. 
Louis is in the Chamber to-day from nine till one, 
long enough at a stretch, and immediately after 
breakfast. We always breakfast at eight ; then 
Louis sees the three officers who come every morn- 
ing on his military business, then Westerweller and 
all others who have business. We usually walk be- 
fore luncheon, which is at twelve; and often drive at 
two or three. At five we dine ; at half-past six, 
theatre, four times a week, till half-past nine ; then 
we take tea together, Louis reads to me, and I 
work. On other week-days there are concerts or 
parties. We are often in our new house, and in the 
garden, arranging things and watching the progress. 



IN HER NEW HOME. 75 

We also go to lectures here, and are much occupied, 
which makes the day pass so quickly. 

March ist, 
I have learned much since I married, and, above 
all, not to be dependent on others in my existence. 
To be able to make a bright and comfortable home 
for my dear husband is my constant aim ; but even 
in this one often fails, for self constantly turns up, 
like a bad sixpence. Oh, how dear Papa spoke 
about that ! His whole noble life was that one bright 
example of sacrificing himself to his duty. Dear, 
adored Papa ! such goodness, such love, when one 
thinks of it, must silence all complaints of petty 
troubles in the mouths of his children and servants. 
You, dear Mama, are the one who suffers the 
most, though this awful loss has touched all ; and to 
soothe your grief and to help you lightens one's 
own. 

March 5 th. 

* * * Spring always makes me so wehmilthig 
[sad], I don't know why ; one longs for every thing 
and any thing which is out of one's reach. 

I will tell you of something I did the other day ; but 
please tell no one, because not a soul but Louis and 
my ladies know of it here. I am the patroness of 
the " Heidenreich Stiftung," to which you also gave 
a handsome present in the beginning. The ladies 
who belong to it go to bring linen to poor respect- 
able Wochnerinnen [women in child-bed], who claim 
their assistance. They bring them food, and, in 
short, help them. All cases are reported to me. 
The other day I went to one incog, with Christa, in 
the old part of the town — and the trouble we had to 
find the house ! At length, through a dirty court- 
yard, up a dark ladder into one little room, where 



^6 PRINCESS ALICE. 

lay in one bed the poor woman and her baby ; in 
the room four other children, the husband, two other 
beds, and a stove. But it did not smell bad, nor was 
it dirty. I sent Christa down with the children, then 
with the husband cooked something for the woman; 
arranged her bed a little, took her baby for her, 
bathed its eyes — for they were so bad, poor little 
thing! — and did odds and ends for her. I went 
twice. The people did not know me, and were so 
nice, so good and touchingly attached to each other ; 
it did one's heart good to see such good feelings in 
poverty. The husband was out of work, the chil- 
dren too young to go to school, and they had only 
four kreuzers in the house when she was confined. 

Think of that misery and discomfort ! 

If one never sees any poverty, and always lives 
in that cold circle of Court people, one's good feel- 
ings dry up, and I felt the want of going about and 
doing the little good that is in my power. I am 
sure you will understand this. 

March 14th. 

My own Dear precious Mama: — These words are 
for the 1 6th, the first hard trial of our lives, where I 
was allowed to be with you. Do you recollect when 
all was over [death of the Duchess of Kent], and 
dear Papa led you to the sofa in the colonnade, and 
then took me to you ? I took that as a sacred re- 
quest from him to love, cherish, and comfort my darl- 
ing mother to all the extent of my weak powers. 
Other things have taken me from being constantly 
with you ; but nothing has lessened my intense love 
for you, and longing to quiet every pain which 
touches you, and to fulfil, even in the distance, his 
request. 

Oh, dading Mama, were there words in which I 



IN HER NEW HOME. 'J'J 

could express to you how much I am bound up with 
you, how constantly my thoughts and prayers are 
yours, I would write them. The sympathies of our 
souls can only tell each other how tender my love 
and gratitude to you is, and how vividly I feel every 
new trial or new thing with you and for you. * * * 
I was with another poor woman, even worse off, 
this morning, and on the third day she was walking 
in the room and nearly fainted from weakness, 
Those poor people ! 

March 26th, 
V, -K- -K- Yesterday morning at nine we took the 
Sacrament — all the family and congregation together. 
The others then stopped for the rest of the service, 
till after eleven. I went home and returned for the 
English service at twelve. At half-past six, in the 
Stadtkirche, Bach's " Passion " was given. 

April 5 th. 

To-day is Victoria's birthday. What a day it was 
this time last year ! Baby has her table in the room 
next to my sitting-room. Uncle Louis and the rest 
of the family expected to breakfast with us at 
twelve. 

Munich, April nth. 

* ^:- ^' To-day, for the first time since the King's 
death,* the Queen and we all with our Gefolge 
[suite] dined in the Winter Garden, It seemed to 
try her very much, but she is so wonderfully quiet 
that she scarcely shows it. I was three hours with 
her yesterday evening. She spoke so kindly of you 
and with such sympathy and interest, and said, when 
dear Papa die,d, she had prayed for you so much. 

* King Maximilian II. of Bavaria had died on the loth of tlae preceding 
month of March. The Queen is a sister of Prince Louis' mother. 



78 PRINCESS ALICE. 

Munich, April 13th, 
'^ * * Between sight-seeing, and going to the 
Queen's room, and being with her, I have not a mo- 
ment scarcely to rest or write. Yesterday we visited 
the whole Schloss full of frescoes, and the studios 
of all the famous painters — so interesting. How dear 
Papa would have enjoyed it ! I was thinking the 
whole time what he would have thought of certain 
pictures, and how much he would have admired 
some. But at all times seeing things, and most of 
all pictures, is fatiguing. 

Darmstadt, April 21st. 

* '^' * On Monday Louis goes into the coun- 
try to shoot capercailzies \_Auerhah?ie\. I accom- 
pany him part of the way, but stop at Schweinsberg 
with Christa's parents. The air is very good there, 
and we thought the country would do me good. 

* * * We shall leave probably later [for Eng- 
land], after or just before your birthday. We have 
a great deal to do in London for our house, for which 
I should want a week ; and from Windsor to leave 
you for a whole week I should not like, and to go up 
constantly is rather tiring. 

We go from Mayence to Rotterdam by steamer, 
from thence by rail to Antwerp, and then wait 
for good weather to cross, so that we shall be long 
under way, but quite easily and comfortably. 

April 25th. 

* * * We shall leave the week of your birth- 
day. Louis wishes us to have a full fortnight in 
London. 

Schweinsberg, April 28th. 

* * * This is a charming country house, in a 
lovely healthy country ; the air has already done me 



IN HER NEW HOME. 79 

much good, Christa's parents are charming, clever 
people, and the life is quiet and refreshing. On 
Saturday I expect Louis, and then we shall go 
home. 

Darmstadt, May 14th. 

Many thanks for your letter, and above all for 
your great kindness about the ships, for which I 
thank you many times. 

Christa and Becker wrote an account of the wed- 
ding, * so I won't write any more about it save that 
it went off very well and was very vorneJnn and well- 
arranged. * * * 

I have borne the fatigues well ; but two days 
before, for two days and one night, I was very unwell. 
* * * Dr. Weber is a clever man, and is 
vielseitig [many-sided] in his views on medicine and 
treatment of illnesses. I think you will like him. 

Baby runs alone through two rooms without fall- 
ing now ; she learnt it in a week. She will amuse 
you so much. Yesterday Louis drove me and his 
two brothers in a break, and baby went with us much 
enchanted. 

May 17 th. 

* * * To-morrow afternoon Fritz and Anna 
leave. To-day the town gives a large ball, to which 
we all go, and before it there is a dinner at the 
Schloss. 

May 2ist. 

* * * It is excessively hot, which makes me 
so tired and weak. I am sure you suffered dread- 
fully from the heat. 

The parting from Anna three days ago was dread- 
ful ; she so distressed, and her parents also, * * * 

* Of the Princess Anna of Hesse with the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg- 
Schwerin, 



So PRINCESS ALICE. 

They beg-in their old age alone, so to say, for there 
are no children in their house any more. It makes 
us both very sad to leave them, and seems so unfeel- 
ing; but we shall return to them soon. What a 
blessing that you have Beatrice and two brothers, still 
boys ; and yet, for one alone what an anxiety ! 

Marlborough House, May 26th. 

Arrived here at half-past eleven, and quite rested. 
I at once write to you to thank you for your letter 
and for the great comfort of the ships. I feel so 
much better already from the air on the Rhine those 
two days, and the fresh sea air, that I have borne the 
journey this way with but little fatigue. I find 
Bertie and Alix both looking well, and the baby 
so pretty and dear. 

I slept during the whole night passage, as I went 
to bed early. I had about twelve hour's sleep, 
which has completely set me up. Louis is paying 
visits. We have lunched, and in the afternoon Bertie 
and Alix have promised to call on Lady Augusta and 
Dean Stanley, and we join them. Aunt Cambridge 
and Mary we shall see afterward, 

[From May to August the Princess was in Eng- 
land on a visit to the Queen.] 

Kranichstein, August 30th. 
* * * I have stood the journey well, though I am 
rather fatigued. It is very warm. Louis is off to 
Jugenheim, I am to go there to-morrow, and it 
takes my whole day, as it is so far. I have seen 
none of the family yet. I was so distressed to part 
from dear Ernest and Marie, they were so dear and 
good all along the journey. The weather was beau- 
tiful and the passage good. 



IN HER NEW HOME. 8 1 

September zd. 

■^ ■'^ * I am so glad that, from all accounts, every 
thing went off so very well at Perth'^""; it must have 
been most trying to you, and yet satisfactory. We 
read all the accounts you kindly sent us with much 
interest. 

% -jc- % "Y\i^ Emperor [of Russia] with his second 
and third sons arrived yesterday. We saw him at 
the station at Darmstadt, but did not join them as 
the rest of the family did. We go to Jugenheim to- 
day and baby with us, as little Serge, f who is just 
Beatrice's age, has such a passion for her. The 
children are very nice, the two older sons very big. 
Uncle Gustav is here, which makes me think of you 
here this time last year. 

September 13th. 
■^* "' * Two days ago we had intense heat, and 
since great cold — the two extremes constantly, 
which is so unwholesome. The Emperor is very 
grateful for your message, and sends his best re- 
membrance. ^ '^'' ^'' There were seven young men 
to dinner yesterday, and your glass was used for the 
first time and looked so pretty. 

September 17th. 

* *''* "■ The Emperor and Empress [of Russia] be- 
fore leaving took a most tender farewell of us, and 
she gave me their Order. They return to Darm- 
stadt on the 27th for a fortnight, as it is now settled 
that the Empress is to spend the winter at Nice, and 
she may not go there till the beginning of October 
at the soonest, as it would be too warm^ 

■K- -;:- * -^g ^j.g -j^ ^^ middle of the second vol- 

* The unveiling of a statue of the Prince Consort., 
f Grand Duke Serge, 



82 PRINCESS ALICE. 

ume of Froude,* but it is too detailed to interest 
you ; you have far too much to do to be interested 
in it. ''^ ''^' ^' Robertson's beautiful sermons we 
have also read tocjether, and I have discovered 
that a German translation exists, and have ordered 
one. 

Mrs. Hardinge f leaves me the end of this month, 
I am sorry to say ; for she is very nice, discreet, and 
ready to do any thing, and not at all of the present 
bad Knglish £-en7''e. 

September 20th. 

* * '^" What you say about the poor sisters, 
and indeed of all the younger ones, is true. The little 
brothers and Beatrice are those who have lost the 
most, poor little things! I can't bear to think of it, 
for dear Papa, more peculiarly than any other father, 
was wanted for his children ; and he was the dear 
friend, and even playfellow, besides. Such a loss as 
ours is indeed unique. Time only increases its 
magnitude, and the knowledge of the want is felt 
more keenly. 

* * =5= J ^yg^g yesterday in our little house, 
arraneinof and clearinof out the rooms. We shall 
have very close quarters, but it will not be un- 
comfortable. 

* * * I often wish dear Papa could have seen 
what a treasure I have in my darling ; but I am sure 
he does see it, and his blessing with yours rests on us, 
for we seem not separated from either of you, our 
life is so interwoven with yours. 

Where people are unselfish, loving, good, and in- 

* The History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of 
Elizabeth. 

\ Wife of General the Hon. Arthur Hardinge, who was on a visit to the 
Princess. 



IN HER NEW HOME. 83 

dustrious, like my dear Louis, I always feel a certain 
likeness beginning to grow up with our dear angel 
Father! Don't you? Oh, may we all only become 
like him! I struggle so hard, dear Mama, in the 
many little trials I daily have, to become more like 
him. My trials melt away when I think of you, 
and I wish I were great and strong to be able to 
bear some of your great trials for you. Dear Mama, 
how I love you ! how we both love you, and would 
shield you with our love from all new blows and trials, 
you know. God comfort you ! My heart is often 
too full to say all that is in it ; to tell you all my love 
and devotion, for your own precious sake, and for 
dear Papa's, who left you as a legacy to us all to love 
and to cherish for him. 

September 23d. 

To-morrow Louis, I, and my two ladies, take the 
sacrament in the little church here. I wished much 
to take it before my hour of trial comes. Dear 
Louis read to me yesterday evening Robertson's 
sermon on the " Sympathy of Christ." 

We have fine autumn weather, and I am out as 
much as I can. "=' ^' ■^'" I sleep well and break- 
fast always at half-past eight ; we dine at two, and 
take supper at eight, then my ladies read aloud, and 
I work or Christa plays, Louis reads his papers, etc. 
To myself I read Lord Malmesbury's " Memoirs," 
which are very curious, and when Louis has time he 
reads Froude to me. 

Kranichstein, October 4th. 

"" * '"" To-morrow dear Uncle Leopold [King 

of the Belgians] comes for a few hours. Louis will 

go to Darmstadt or Mayence to meet him, and I will 

receive him at the station, as none of the family know 



84 FJilNCESS ALICE. 

him. Louis is out shooting with the Emperor. 
Uncle Alexander's throat has already begun to be 
bad again. 

-;j- -jf •?:- J ^j^ writing quite a confused letter in 
the midst of household troubles, for the Emperor 
and Empress have just let me know that they wish 
to breakfast here, and Louis is out, and I don't know 
where or how to have the things in our small menage. 
I must therefore conclude and do my business. 

October yth. 
■^" * * I had the pleasure of seeing dear Uncle 
two days ago looking wonderfully well, and kind and 
dear as ever. * * * To-day I must go to a 
large family dinner. Fritz and Anna of Hesse, 
Grand Duchess Marie, and Prince arid Princess 
William of Baden, besides ourselves, the family, and 
the Emperor and Empress. 

Darmstadt, October 14th. 
We are at length here, in great disorder, and I 
have been waiting half an hour only for a pen to be 
found. I am tired and not very well. ^' * * 
Augusta [Lady Augusta Stanley] being with you I 
am very glad of, and she must be such a comfort to 
you, for besides being such a friend, she has that 
peculiar charm of manner which all the Bruces possess. 

October 21st. 
* * * I am so grieved about poor Louise ; 
she will want much care and attention. 

Lady Car. [Caroline Barrington] is here since 
yesterday evening to my great delight, and is not 
looking the worse for her journey. 

October 29th. 
% * * To-morrow we expect Vicky and Fritz 
[Crown Prince and Princess of Prussia] for two 



IN HER NEW HOME. 85 

hours, and later Bertie and Alix on their way back 
from Amorbach, for a few hours. I shall be delighted 
to see them. 

October 31st. 

* -X- * Yesterday we had the pleasure of hav- 
ing dear Vicky and Fritz and baby here for two 
hours, the former well and in such good looks, as I 
have not seen her for long. The baby is a love, and 
very pretty. We were very glad after a year's sep- 
aration to meet again, and Vicky was so dear and 
loving. I always admire her understanding and 
brightness each time I see her again ; and Fritz so 
good, so excellent. Bertie and Alix we expect in a 
day or two for a short visit. It is very cold, but 
not unpleasant. I go out twice a day. 

Darmstadt, November 7th. 
•K- * * "Y\xQ^ little daughter* was but a momen- 
tary disappointment to us, which we have quite got 
over. We console ourselves with the idea that the 
little pair will look very pretty together. 

November 20th. 

* •«• % -^y-g 2^x0. both very much pleased at the 
arrangements about Brown and your pony, and I 
think it Is so sensible. I am sure it will do you 
good, and relieve a little the monotony of your out- 
of-door existence, besides doing your nerves good. 
I had long wished you would do something of the 
kind ; for, indeed, only driving is not wholesome. 
* ^' ^'' I have had two drives, which have done me 
good. ''^- * '^ My mother-in-law has been kind- 
ness itself all along — so attentive and yet so discreet. 
I can't be grateful enough. My good father-in-law 
also. ^ ^ * Louis' mother is to be godmother, 

* The Princess Elizabeth was born on the ist of November, 1864. 



86 PHINCESS ALICE. 

because it is customary here to ask some one of the 
name the child is to receive to stand on the occasion. 
We hked Elizabeth on account of St. Elizabeth 
beine the ancestress of the Hessian as well as the 
Saxon House. 

November 26th, 
% * -^'- We probably go to Carlsruhe on Wed- 
nesday, the only place we can well go to near by ; 
we can't take an inn at Baden or any thing of that 
sort, and we only go for a week or ten days at most. 
* ■J<- * \ 2,n\ very well and very careful ; all peo- 
ple say I look better, and have more color than I 
have had for long, and, indeed, I feel strong and 
well, and my fat baby does perfecdy, and is a great 
darling. Affie and Louis and his brother are out 
shooting. The horrid weather has kept me in these 
three days. 

November 29th, 
'^' * * I ought to mention the christening. 
My mother-in-law held baby all the time, and it 
screamed a good deal. Victoria stood with us and 
was very good, only kneeling down and tumbling 
over the footstool every two minutes, and she kept 
whispering to me, " Go to Uncle's." I thought so 
much of the christening last year, when Victoria be- 
haved much better than her larger dark sister. Ella 
measured twenty-three and a half inches a fortnight 
ago, and she had not grown then. Victoria, I be- 
lieve, was twenty inches. 

Carlsruhe, December 5th. 
* * * Dear Dr. Macleod is coming with Affie to 
Darmstadt for the 14th. Vicky and Fritz will be 
with us also. How kind of him to come, and it has 
made Affie so happy, for he is so devoted to him. 



IN HER NEW HOME. 8/ 

Darmstadt, December loth. 

* * * We returned here yesterday, after a very 
pleasant stay at Carlsruhe. It was very quiet, and 
we were always en famille. We had the oppor- 
tunity of speaking much with Fritz, who is in every 
way so distinguished, and dear Louise is so good 
and kind. 

I have very little time to write to-day, as we ar- 
rived late last night. Louis has to be absent to-day, 
so I have a great deal to do. 

December 15 th. 

I had not a moment to myself to write to you 
yesterday, and to thank you for the kind lines you 
sent me through dear Dr. Macleod. He gave us a 
most beautiful service, a sermon giving an outline of 
dear Papa's noble, great and good character, and 
there were most beautiful allusions to you in his 
prayer, in which we all prayed together most 
earnestly for you, precious Mama ! 

We talked longf toQfether afterward about dear 
Papa, and about you, and though absent were very 
near you in thought and prayer. 

Dear Vicky talked so lovingly and tenderly of 
you, and of how homesick she sometimes felt. She 
was not with us on that dreadful day three years 
ago, and that is so painful to her. Dear Affie was, 
as we ail were, so much overcome by all Dr. Mac- 
leod said. Vicky, Affie, Louis, and myself sat in 
the little dining-room ; he read to us there. Fritz 
had left early in the morning. The day was passed 
quietly and peaceably together, and I was most 
grateful to have dear Vicky and Affie with me on 
that day. My dear Louis wishes me to express to 
you how tenderly he thought of you and with what 
sympathy on this sad anniversary. Never can we 



FJilNCESS ALICE. 



cease talking of home, of you and of all your trials. 
God bless and comfort you, my own dear Mama ! 



1865. 

In the month of January of this year the Prince 
and Princess were at last able to carry out their in- 
tentions of visiting Berlin, which had several times 
been postponed. The Princess met with the great- 
est kindness and attention from the King and Queen 
of Prussia, who had been much attached to her since 
her childhood. 

A great grief fell upon the Grand Ducal family 
through the death of the young Grand Duchess of 
Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Prince Louis' only sister, 
whose recent marriage had given so much satisfac- 
tion to the family, and who died on the i6th of 
April, a few days after giving birth to a daughter. 

About the same time, the Cesarewitch Nicholas, 
eldest son of the Emperor of Russia, died at Nice. 
He was his mother's favorite son, and had been en- 
gaged to be married to Princess Dagmar of Den- 
mark (present Empress of Russia), the sister of the 
Princess of Wales. Princess Alice endeavored with 
all a daughter's love and sympathy to cheer her par- 
ents-in-law under their heavy bereavement. 

While the Prince and Princess were absent in 
Switzerland at the Rigi Kaltbad in the Bernese 
Alps, Queen Victoria spent one day at Kranichstein, 
and on the 26th of Ausfust orathered all her children 



IN HER NEW HOME. 89 

round her at Coburg. On that day the Prince Con- 
sort's statue on the market-place at Coburg was un- 
veiled. 

The yearly visit to England took place in the 
autumn, and the Prince and Princess spent a longer 
time than usual in the Highlands, where they made 
many delightful excursions. 

Soon after their return to Germany, the sad news 
reached them of the death of the Kine of the Bel- 
gians. Endeared by his personal character to his 
family and friends, he was also by reason of his 
statesmanlike qualities recognized as one of the most 
remarkable sovereigns of Europe. 

Although Princess Alice had lived but a short 
time at Darmstadt, she had already become the ac- 
knowledged centre of social life in that town. Her 
liberal and independent spirit, conflicting as it did 
with many local prejudices, exposed her to many 
criticisms ; still, no one who came in contact with 
her could resist the charm of her appearance and 
manner. The Princess had, so to speak, not "yet 
taken root " in her adopted country ; but, acute and 
close observer as she was, she soon found where her 
own sphere of occupation lay, and what the agencies 
were by which she could work out her plans. 

Her letters show the love she bore to her new 
family, and the many useful enterprises which she 
now initiated for the well being of the country. 

January ist, 

* * * Thousand thanks for your dear words 



90 



PRINCESS ALICE. 



and for the wishes ! I was thinking so much of you 
and of home, when your letter came in. It made 
me so happy ! DarHng Mama, I can feel so much 
with and for you during these days. I was all day 
on the verge of tears, for the very word ''Neujahr" 
brought Papa and Grandmama, and all at Windsor 
as in former days, so vividly before me, it made my 
heart ache ! That bright happy past, particularly 
those last years, when I was the eldest at home, and 
had the privilege of being so much with you both, 
my own dearly loved parents, is a remembrance 
deeply graven, and with letters of gold, upon my 
heart. All the morning I was telling Louis how it 
used to be at home, and how w^e all assembled out- 
side your dressing-room door to scream in chorus 
''Prosit Neujahr ! " and to give to you and Papa our 
drawings, writings, etc., the busy occupation of pre- 
vious weeks. Then playing and reciting our pieces, 
where we often stuck fast, and dear Papa bit his lip 
so as not to laugh ; our walk to the riding-school 
[where the alms to the poor were distributed], and 
then to Frogmore. Those were happy days, and 
the very remembrance of them must bring a gleam 
of sunshine even to you, dear Mama. Those two 
dinners, when I was with you both, were such happy 
evenings. I am so grateful I remained at home, 
and lost not a day of those happy ones. 

At eight this morning we two went to church ; at 
half-past three there was a large dinner at the Schloss. 
I wore the bracelet with your pictures, as I always 
do on all particular days, for I like to be able to look 
at those dear faces. 

January 2d. 
We mean to go out sledging. The cold, and all 
the ground being white this last month, has given 



IN HER NEW HOME. 9 1 

me such bad eyes. I can do nothing of an evening 
at all, and reading even by daylight makes them so 
bad that they get quite red. The ladies read to me, 
instead, all sorts of instructive things. Louis has 
already found time to read through a whole volume 
of the " Lives of the Engineers." ■^" You could not 
have sent any thing that would interest him more. 
He thanks you so much for the pretty New Year's 
wish also. 

January 14th. 

Thousand thanks for your dear letter, for the nice 
enclosure from Dr. Macleod, and for the beautiful 
sermon by Dean Stanley. One remark struck me 
as singularly applicable to dear Papa, where he 
says : " To die is gain ; to be no longer vexed with 
the sight of evil, which they cannot control," etc. — 
for dear Papa suffered when he saw others do 
wrong ; it pained that good pure spirit : and though 
we long for him and want him, if we could call 
him back — even you who want him so much, I 
think would pause before you gave vent to the wish 
that would recall him. ^'' ^ * 

When trials come, what alone save faith and hope 
in a blessed future can sustain one ! 

* * * You can't think how much I am inter- 
ested in every little detail of your daily life. Besides, 
you know it cannot be otherwise. Please say kind- 
est things to Brown, *{* who must be a great con- 
venience to you. 

January 20th. 

* * * The more one studies and tries to un- 
derstand those wonderful laws which rule the world, 
the more one wonders, worships, and admires that 

* By Dr. Samuel Smiles, 
f John Brown, the Queen's personal attendant. 



92 FRIA'CESS ALICE. 

which to us is so incomprehensible ; and I always 
wonder how there can be dissatisfied and grumbling 
people in this beautiful world, so far too good for 
our deserts, and where, after our duty is done, we 
hope to be everlastingly with those we love, where 
the joy will be so great and lasting that present sor- 
row and trouble must melt away before that sun- 
shine. 

January 23d. 

* * ^' We have rain and warm high wind, 
and leave at four o'clock this afternoon. Ella has 
her bath as a bed, and Victoria sleeps in the bassinet, 
which is done up with chintz for the occasion. I don't 
think they can catch cold. There is a stove in the 
centre compartment besides. You can fancy I feel 
shy going to Berlin into a perfectly new society ; and 
I have been so little out on the whole since the year 
1 86 1. Marie Grancy'"'" goes with us. 

Berlin, January 29th. 
-x- -X- % ^\\^ journey went off very well, and we 
are so happy to be here. Vicky and Fritz are kind- 
ness itself, and Vicky so dear, so loving ! I feel it 
does me good', that there is a reflection of Papa's 
great mind in her. He loved her so much, and was 
so proud of her. The King is, as always, very kind, 
and so pleased to see us here. Louis is very happy 
to meet his old comrades again, and they equally so 
to see him ; and I am so glad that he can have this 
amusement at least, for he is so kind in not leaving 
me — and our life must be rather dull sometimes for 
a young man of spirit like him. 

Berlin, February ist. 

* * * Affie arrived at eight this morning. I 

* One of the Princess' ladies in waiting. 



IN HER NEW HOME. 93 

am sure the King will be so pleased at your having 
let him come now. He is so kind to me ; it touches 
me very much, for I have never done any thing to 
deserve it. 

Berlin, February 4th. 

* "^ * I have not been sight-seeing anywhere, 
as it is too cold for that. We drive in a shut car- 
riage, and then walk in the Thiergarten. We spend 
the whole day together, which is a great enjoyment 
to me, and of an evening we go out together. It is 
so pleasant to have a sister to go out with, and all 
the people are so kind and civil to us. 

Sigismund '''' is the greatest darling I have ever 
seen — so wonderfully strong and advanced for his 
age — with such fine color, always laughing, and so 
lively he nearly jumps out of our arms. 

This house is very comfortable, and Vicky is sur- 
rounded with pictures of you and dear Papa — near 
her bed, on all her tables — and such endless souve- 
nirs of our childhood : it made me quite zvehmuthig 
[sad] to see all the things I had not seen for seven 
years, and since we lived together as children — 
souvenirs of Christmases and birthdays from you 
both, and from dear Grandmama, from Aunt Glou- 
cester, etc. It awakened a thousand old remem- 
brances of happy past times. 

Berlin, February 7th. 

* * * How much do I think of you now, the 
happy Silver Wedding that would have been, where 
you could have been surrounded by so many of us ! 
Poor Mama, I do feel so deeply for you. Oh, may 
I be long, if not altogether, spared so awful a 
calamity I 

* Then the Crown Princess' youngest child. 



94 FJilNCESS ALICE. 

Morning, noon, and night do I thank the Almighty 
for otir happiness, and pray that it may last. 

These lines are for the dear loth,* though they 
will reach you on the eve ; and they are to tell you 
from Louis and myself how tenderly we think of you 
on that day, and of darling Papa, who made that 
day what it was. It will be a day of great trial to 
you, I fear. May the Almighty give you strength 
and couraee to bear it ! I am sure the dear sisters 
and brothers who are at home will try to cheer you 
with their different loving ways — above all, little 
Beatrice, the youngest of us all. 

Louis goes to Schwerin to-morrow until Friday. 
They wanted us to go together, but one journey is 
enough at this time of the year. 

Berlin, February nth. 

* '•'" * We have been sledging these two days ; 
it is very cold, and the rooms mostly very hot. 
When we go out of an evening, we are packed up 
from head to foot. My dear Louis returned from 
Schwerin at five this morning, pleased with his visit. 
He found the Castle fine and comfortable, and its 
inmates very happy. 

Berlin, February 14th. 

* * ^" We leave next Saturday. I shall be so 
sorry to leave dear Vicky, for she is often so much 
alone. Fritz is really so excellent, it is a pleasure 
to look at his dear good face ; and he is worked so 
hard — no health can stand it in the long run. 

Berlin, February lytb. 

* -X- * This will be my last letter from here 
and I only regret leaving here on account of parting 
with dear Vicky and Fritz, whom we see so rarely, 

* The anniversary of the Queen's marriage. 



IN HER NEW HOME. 95 

and usually but for a short time. I have passed such 
pleasant hours with dear Vicky : that is what I shall 
look back to with so much pleasure and satisfaction. 

Darmstadt, February 21st, 

I write once more from our dear little home, which 
I find very cold ; snow and ice everywhere still — it 
seems as if winter would never end. We accom- 
plished our journey very well. Poor Vicky will miss 
us very much, I fear, in the many hours when she is 
alone, and which we spent together. Writing does 
not make up for it. 

We give a large masked ball in the Palace at 
Fastnacht [Shrove Tuesday], which is to-day week. 
It is the first thing we do for the society, and I hope 
it will go off well. I found so much to do since my 
return that I can write no more. 

BeforeclosingI must mention though, that yesterday 
evening I heard " Elijah" beautifully given. How I 
thought of dear Papa ! Nearly every note brought 
back to mind observations he made about it. I 
thought I could see him, and hear his dear sweet 
voice turning round to me with quite watery eyes, 
saying, '' Es ist dock gar zil schon" ["It is really 
quite too lovely."] 

Adored Papa ! how he loved this fine music ; the 
harmony in it seems like the harmony of souls, and 
Mendelssohn's music is so good, fj^omm [pious] — I 
mean, it makes one better to hear it. In the second 
part, in an air of " Elijah " toward the end, I found the 
part from which those beautiful responses are taken 
— hich Cusins arranged, and which Papa liked so 

uch. 

February 27 th. 

* * '^ I can write but a very short letter to-day, 
having so much to do for our ball. 1 have made a 



g6 PRINCESS ALICE. 

sketch of my costume, which is the same I wore 
at Berhn at the masked ball at Putbuses. Louis 
wears part of the Garter Costume. 

March 4th, 

* * * My parents-in-law leave the middle of 
this month for Schwerin, ^s^ * * y^y mother-in- 
law fears that Anna will be badly managed and 
treated quite after the old fashion, and she won't be 
able to help her, she fears. Anna is not very strong, 
and if she is starved and kept from the air, it 
will certainly do her harm. 

I have written to dear Tilla.* To think of home 
without her seems too sad, but I hope you will invite 
her sometimes. Every one liked her in the house, 
she was so gentle and so kind. I shall never forget 
what I owe her, and I ever loved her most dearly. 
But she has never been the same again since 1861. 
It gave her a dreadful shock ; she had such a venera- 
tion for darling Papa. 

. I hope this year we can show you our house, 
though it will not be far enough advanced for you to 
live in. For another year, I hope, we could make 
you so comfortable. 

Darmstadt, March 6th. 

* * -X- J ^j^ reading at this moment a book by 
Herr von Arneth — the publication of letters from 
Maria Theresa to Marie Antoinette from 1770-80. 
I recommend it to you. The letter are short and in- 
teresting, and it would amuse you to take it up now 
and then, when you have a leisure moment. The 
advice the Empress gives her daughter is so good ; 
she was a very wise mother. 

I have read and studied a great deal about the 
human body ; about children — their treatment, etc. 

* Miss Hildyard, the Princess' former English governess. 



IlSr HER NEW HOME. 97 

It interests me immensely. Besides, it is always 
useful to know such things, so that one is not per- 
fectly ignorant of the reasons why doctors wish one 
to do certain things, and why not. In any moment 
of illness, before there is time for a doctor to come, 
one can be able to help one's self a little. I know you 
don't like these things, and where one is surrounded 
by such, as dear Sir James [Clark] and Dr. Jenner, it 
is perfectly unnecessary and pleasanter not to know 
a good deal. Instead of finding it disgusting, it 
only fills me with admiration to see how wonderfully 
we are made. 

Darmstadt, March nth. 

^ -"- * Westerweller does not accompany us 
this time to England ; he may join us in June. A 
former playfellow of Louis, Ferdinand Rabenau, ac- 
companies us. Afhe knows him and likes him. We 
think of starting on the 3d, and passing by Brussels 
to see dear Uncle Leopold. Uncle Louis is still at 
Nice, and does not return here, it seems, until 
the Emperor and Empress meet for April 24th — the 
Emperor's birthday. My mother-in-law is very 
grateful for your kind message. She seems very 
nervous about Anna. 

Victoria is teething, which makes her pale and 
poorly. Ella's vaccination did not take, and we have 
the small-pox here. 

March i8th. 

My poor children have been confined to the house 
with dreadful colds and coughs. Victoria looks the 
most pulled, though Ella's cough was much more 
violent. I am happy to say that they are really 
better to-day ; but we have snow every day, and 
that makes their recovery slower. 

Yesterday night part of a large seed manufactory 



98 PJ?INCESS ALICE. 

close by, near the artillery barracks, was burnt down. 
The flames were enormous, but the damage done 
was not great. 

My parents-in-law are in Berlin, and after to-mor- 
row they go to Schwerin. 

Last night we heard Cost fan tutte given to perfec- 
tion. The music is most charminof, and I had never 
heard it before. 

April ist. 

* " * Since some days the snow is many feet 
deep; one can get about in sledges, and Louis drove 
me in one with four horses this morning. All inter- 
course by carriage is impossible, and this is very in- 
convenient to the people in the country where their 
*' Post " cannot drive. 

April 4th. 

I must begin by telling you how much pleasure your 
telegram has given me. It is like my own dear Mama 
to have her arms open for those who want her kind 
support ; and I can only repeat again, that with you, 
and under your care alone, should I like to leave my 
little ones so long! To them, indeed, it will in every 
way be an advantage, and I shall be quite easy in 
leaving them there, where I know they will have 
every care which can be given ; and it would make 
us both so happy to feel that in this way we could 
give you some little pleasure. 

Westerweller and Becker both wish very much we 
may take this winter, D.V., for a journey. As long 
as we have fewer servants and this small house, it is 
easy to break up the whole establishment — later, 
this will be less possible. Louis has never been 
able to travel, and the advantage of seeing other 
parts of the world would be so great for him. 
Without me he would not do it; he says, alone he 



IN HER NEW HOME. 



99 



should not enjoy it. I urge this journey principally 
for his sake, and I hope you will support me in this. 
Since our marriasfe we have seen nothine, and all 
who can try to enlarge their knowledge. From 
books alone it becomes tedious and less advan- 
tageous. 

Victoria is going to have a party of thirty children 
to-morrow in Prince Charles' rooms. The snow is 
•thawing at length, and the sun is much too hot. 
The sudden spring is not pleasant. We have been 
out riding, and this evening I shall accompany 
Louis to the Schnepfenstrich [woodcock-shooting*], 
which in a fine evening, when the birds sing, is 

lovely. 

April 8th. 

* * * We shall be delighted to receive you in 
Kranichstein, and if you w^ill send 3^our suite all to 
Darmstadt we shall be able to arranofe, though we 
have not one spare room anywhere, and I feel you 
will be rather squeezed. How I look forward to 
meeting you again, after a year of separation, I can't 
say ; and I am so glad that it will be under our roof 
that our joyful embrace will take place. As Uncle 
Louis is to have the Garter, may not Affie bring it 
to him wWioitt ceremony ? He would like it so 
much better if it can be so. 

On the 17th Louis goes to Oberhessen to shoot 
capercailzies, and he deposits me and the children at 
Lich on his way, where he will join us again for my 
birthday. 

Anna was safely delivered of a little girl this 
morning, and is doing well. 

April 15th. 

* * * We have been very anxious about 

* This sport is practised in the evening twilight. 



100 PRINCESS ALICE. 

Anna * the last few days, for she has had fever since 
the 9th, and shivering still yesterday. 

We have a great deal to do this morning, so I can 
write but shortly. 

We have fine weather at length, and are out a 
great deal. 

Yesterday we took, the Sacrament at nine, and 
numbers of people with us. The service lasted till 
past eleven, with a pause between. 

April 1 8th. 

This is really a dreadfully sad death in our family, 
and will be a blow to my dear parents-in-law, which 
will weigh them down for many a day. They who 
lived so retired, and to whom the family life was all 
— Anna, the pet — ''das Prinzesschen," whom they 
gave up so unwillingly, and with whom they corres- 
ponded daily ! It will be a blank in their existence, 
which I can't bear to think of! Such tender loving 
parents! My poor Louis was dreadfully distressed, 
thougrh he feared the worst all alone since we knew 
that Anna had fever. He left with Grolmann, having 
passed a dreadful morning. All the old servants, 
tutors, friends, came crying to us. Since he is gone 
I have passed sad lonely hours ; and poor old Ame- 
jung comes f and sits in my room, sobbing that she 
should ever have lived to see this day. 

Yesterday morning I went to the Rosenhahe and 
picked flowers from Anna's garden, and wound a 
large wreath, which I have sent to Louis to place on 
her coffin. The three brothers feel it dreadfully — 
the first rent in the family circle is always hard to 
bear, and she so young, so good, so happy ! I hear 
the poor little baby is nice. 

* Prince Louis' sister, the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin 
She died on the i6th of April, 1S65. 

f Nurse of the Prince Louis and his brothers and sister. 



IN HER NEW HOME. lOI 

Yesterday night Anna was taken into the Schloss- 
kirche [Palace Chapel] upon Louis' arrival, after a 
journey of twenty-seven hours. I hope he won't be 
ill after all this Gemilthsbewegung [strain upon his 
feelings], and fatigue always upsets him and makes 
him sick, and he feels all so deeply and warmly. It 
is so shocking. I can think of nothing else ; and I 
am very low and sad being so alone, and the warm 
weather makes one unwell. 

The poor Cesarewitch has passed a tolerable 
niQfht. I fear he is so reduced he can't eet through 
it. The Empress doats on this son, and he is so 
like her. The poor Emperor has left for Nice. 

April 2ist. 
Oh, it is sad, very sad! Life indeed is but a 
short journey, on which we have our duty to do, and 
in which joy and sorrow alternately prevail. Anna 
was very good, very unselfish, and a true Christian, 
with her gentle, humble spirit, and as such she was 
loved and admired. What rare people my parents- 
in-law and their children are, I can't tell you — such 
childlike faith, such pure unselfish love to each other; 
I really feel unworthy to belong to them, and they 
are dear to me beyond description. As I have 
shared their joys, so with all my heart do I share 
their sorrow, and fervently pray for them ! You 
will understand this, darling Mama. From you I 
have inherited an ardent and sympathizing spirit, 
and feel the pain of those I love as though it were 
my own. To-morrow I have wished that there 
should be in the Palace Chapel a funeral service at 
the same time as the funeral at Schwerin,and all the 
people here seemed pleased at my wish. Bender, 
who taught her, confirmed her, and who married her 
not a year ago in that very church, will perform the 
service. 



102 PRINCESS ALICE. 

Poor Dagmar! what a journey for her, poor child! 
She begins her troubles early enough. 

April 24th. 

* * * Many thanks for your kind letter, and 
for all the kind wishes for my birthday. It will be 
sad and quiet ; but I hope my beloved Louis will 
arrive to-night, and be with me again — such cause 
for joy and thankfulness. When I have hi7n, all 
sorrow is turned into peace and happiness. Could I 
but know you still had darling Papa at your side, 
how light would my heart be ! Once when we have 
all fulfilled our allotted duties, and overcome that 
dark night, then, please God, we shall be together, 
never again to part ! 

The sympathy of all does my sorrowing family 
good, for it soothes so much ! I had a few lines so 
tender, so full of faith, from my dear mother-in-law 
to-day. Since Ella's birth I know to understand and 
love her most dearly. She suffered dreadfully, but 
no complaint passes her lips. She consoles her hus- 
band, her son-in-law, and this, with prayer, enables 
her to bear that which has almost broken her heart. 

April 25th. 

* * * Dear Louis returned last night well, and 
bringing good accounts of his parents. They re- 
main there still a litde longer, to arrange Anna's 
things. At Frankfort, at eleven last night, we met ; 
it was so warm. 

The poor Cesarewitch is gone ! The Emperor 
and Empress are coming here in ten days ; what sad 
meetings. 

How warm it has been daily since a fortnight, I 
can't tell you! We sit all day in the garden, take 
tea there, drawing-lessons, etc. 



IN HER NEW HOME. IO3 

April 29th. 

T thank you so much for your kind sympathizing 
letter. All my family are so grateful for all the 
kindness and sympathy you have shown them on 
this sad occasion. 

To-day Uncle Louis arrives ; on Monday the 
Emperor and Empress, and children. What a sad 
meeting ! They go to Jugenheim direct, where last 
year they were so happy all together. I hear the 
Empress is worn out, mind and body ; and she in- 
sists, instead of finishing her cure, on going in a 
fortniofht to St. Petersburg- to meet the remains of 
her child, and to do him the last honors. Louis 
fears that it will be more than her feeble frame can 
endure. In the Greek Church, too, the night Masses 
are longf and exhaustino-, and she is sure to wish to 
do all. 

We spent my birthday as every other day, and 
the weather was heavenly. I am painting in oil 
now, and that interests me much. I find it much 
easier than water- colors. 

I hope Affie will come to pay his respects to the 
Russians. If you send them a kind message through 
him, it would please them much. 

May 2d. 
% * ^' How well I understand your compas- 
sion being alike for mourners in all positions of life. 
It is but right and natural, and I can't imagine one's 
feeling otherwise. 

May 6th. 

To-morrow morning my poor parents-in-law ar- 
rive. What a meeting, and what a return ! My 
father-in-law and the Empress * are each other's 
favorites, and understand each other so perfectly. 

* She was the only sister of Prince Charles of Hesse. 



I04 PRINCESS ALICE, 

It will be a consolation to both to pour their hearts 
out to each other, and share each other's sorrow. 
My dear father-in-law wrote to Aunt Marie : " Al- 
though my heart is sorely depressed, yet it is even- 
more filled with gratitude than with sorrow, that the 
dear God has given us two such dear children, 
though but for a brief space." He is so touching in 
his grief. 

May 8th. 

I find my dear parents-in-lav/ pretty well, but 
poor Mama so terribly tired. She was dread- 
fully overcome in coming home, and at the several 
meetings. He looks much older, as, indeed, does 
also the poor Emperor, who parted yesterday to go 
to St. Petersburg. Dear Aunt Marie seems very 
weak, and they both, together with my parents, 
make such a sad picture to look at. But they all 
like to speak of those they have lost. My parents- 
in-law and we eo this week to Uncle Louis, to See- 
heim for three weeks. 

Seeheim, May 12th. 

You can't think what real pleasure your pretty 
locket gave my mother-in-law. She was deeply 
touched by the kind thought and the considerate 
attention of the gift — with what was engraved on it. 
She was so very much pleased with it, and put it on 
the moment she received it. The photograph is to 
be put in. To-day, Anna's wedding-day, it arrived. 

We have been here since yesterday afternoon — 
my parents-in-law and Uncle Louis. The suite are 
on leave of absence, so we are quite enfamille. 

Yesterday, Serge's birthday, we went with Uncle 
and Aunt to the Greek Mass, which lasted more 
than an hour. We dine daily at the Heiligenberg, 
This morning also we were there with our parents and 



IN HER NEW HOME. 10$ 

children ; and Aunt Marie [the Empress of Russia] 
kept Ella half an hour on her lap, playing with her, 
which the little one enjoyed very much, as she is 
particularly sociable and amiable. Victoria romped 
with her cousins — Aunt Marie's two, and Uncle 
Alexander's four. 

Seeheim, May 15th. 
% * '^ To-day Michael and Cecile arrive, and 
on Tuesday the Emperor and Empress recommence 
their journey homeward. The return will be for 
both most trying. Aunt Marie spoke with me 
about her sons, their education, etc., very long last 
night. Her whole life she has studied and lived for 
Nike [the late Cesarewitch], that he might become 
that which was necessary for his future ; and she 
was much more with him, and they were both much 
more intimate together, than she is with her other 
children. Affie came here on Saturday, and I am 
so glad to have him and hear some news of you. At 
this moment he and William are in the room shoot- 
ing at a target out of the window, which makes no 
little noise. 

May 20th. 

* * * We mean to remain here in the Bergf- 
strasse with our parents ; is seems to console them ; 
but my father-in-law makes me very anxious, and is 
so nervous. Poor Mama ! so soft, so tired, so unlike 
herself, cclafait pitie. 

On the fifth the Grand Duke is ofoinsf to receive 
the Garter. You shall have an account of all. 

Affie is here, and to-day dear Arthur comes for a 
few hours. I shall be so pleased to see him again. 

Seeheim, May 21st. 
•K- -jf % Yesterday the Emperor and Empress 
and children left. So sorry to see them go ! God 



Io6 PRINCESS ALICE. 

knows when we shall all meet here again. We have 
been so much together and so intimately, that I 
have grown very fond of them, and am very sad at 
the thought of the long and uncertain separation. 
Dear little Arthur was here, looking very well. The 
wooded hills here are so nice to ride about on, and 
the country is very beautiful. 

May 31st. 

I read serious books a great deal, and of a Sun- 
day together we read out of Robertson's sermons. 
In the second series there is one, " The Irreparable 
Past " for young people, so cheering, so encourag- 
ing, so useful. Louis read it to me on his return 
from Schwerin after poor Anna's death. A short 
life indeed, and it makes one feel the uncertainty of 
life, and the necessity of labor, self-denial, charity, 
and all those virtues which Vv^e ought to strive after. 
Oh, that I may die, having done my work and not 
sinned with Unterlassung des Guten [omission to do 
what is good], the fault into which it is easiest to 
fall. 

Our life being so quiet gives one much time for 
earnest thought, and I own it is discouraging to find 
how much one fails — how small the step of improve- 
ment is. 

I suffer still so much, and so often, from rheuma- 
tism. I am taking warm soda-baths in the morning 
for it, and am rubbed afterward with towels which 
have been dipped in cold water and then wrung out. 
It is not very pleasant. 

June 4th. 

¥: ^. % ^\\^ weather is very beautiful, and we 
had tea yesterday at Schonberg, the castle of young 
Count Erbach, whom Louis presented to you at 
Windsor. Could you tell us for certain when you 



ly HER NEW HOME, 10/ 

intend going to Coburg, and when we are expected 
there, as we are going to the sea to bathe for Vic- 
toria and myself, and we would arrange our time ac- 
cordingly ? I require some sea air after the great 
heat, and after baby's weaning ; also before Scotland 
it would be good, for I have so much rheumatism. 
Some sea water will strenofthen me. 

June 7th. 

^ * ^ You know how very Scotch we both 
are. Louis is devotedly attached to Scotland and 
his ScotC!!)ii friends. Do tell them so always. But 
now I must tell you of yesterday. In the morning 
Affie, we, and our suite, drove into town for the in- 
vestiture. At half past three I drove with my ladies, 
a Kammerherr [Chamberlain], Becker, etc., to the 
Schloss, where Uncle Louis received us in shorts ! 
Then Affie and Louis in their whole Garter dress 
arrived in a carriage with six horses and an escort. 
Uncle Louis, before the throne, and the family, 
Court, corps diplomatique, etc., received them. Affie 
read in English the address, to which Uncle Louis 
answered in German ; then Affie buckled on the 
Garter ; then Louis helped him to put on ribbon, 
cloak, etc., and fastened the sword on him, which 
was no easy task ; but they acquitted themselves 
to perfection, and went out through the long Kaiser- 
saal backward, bowing-. 

There was a large dinner afterward, at which your 
health was proposed by Uncle Louis, and in return 
Affie gave his. You have made a happy man, and 
he feels the honor — as he said to me in English — 
" utmostly " ; and he wishes me to repeat once more 
how grateful he is to you. ''' ''' * 

Affie did not return here last night ; he slept at 
Darmstadt, and left this morning for Amorbach. To- 



I08 PRINCESS ALICE. 

day Uncle Ernest is coming to us, but only for one 
nieht. As we have ag-ain to g-o into town to fetch 
him, and it is very warm, I must close. 

Seeheim, June 15th, 

* * * How it will amuse and please us to 
show the good excellent Scotchman our home. It 
is a pleasure to hear of such devotion and attention 
to you as Brown's is, and indeed you are so kind to 
him, that his whole happiness must consist in serv- 
ing so good a mistress. 

I think you will be pleased to hear of a most kind 
and touching tribute which the Frauen [women] of 
Darmstadt have paid me. Two hundred and fifty 
have subscribed to have a splendid picture painted 
for me, by P. Weber, of Loch Katrine. I am to see 
it on Sunday. It is very much admired, and they 
sent the painter to Scotland to do it, thinking that 
something from my own country would please me 
most. Is it not kind of them .-^ It has given me so 
much pleasure — but of all things the feeling which 
has prompted them to do it, as it shows me that, 
though I have been here so short a time, they have 
become attached to me, as I am with all my heart to 
my new home and countrj^ 

Now about myself. I have weaned Ella, last Sat- 
urday, and can say that my health has never been 
so good, nor have I been so strong or looked so 
fresh and healthy as I do now. When Uncle Ernest 
saw me he said I looked again as I did as a girl, 
only rather fatter. 

Ella crawls now, and is very strong ; she has her 
first two teeth. Victoria is very wild, and speaks 
more German than Eno-lish. I think her rather 
small, but other people say she is not. She goes 
cut walking with her Papa before breakfast quite 



IN HER NEW HOME. IO9 

alone, with her hands in her pockets, and amuses 
him very much. 

June 19th. 

Many thanks for your last letter from dear Balmo- 
ral. The parting from that lovely place must always 
be sad, and there is something in mountains which 
attaches one so much to that scenery. 

Yesterday was a very trying day for my poor 
mother-in-law (her birth-day), and she was very low, 
but, as all along, so resigned, so touching in the 
beautiful way she bears her grief; so unselfish with 
it, never wishing to make others sad, or to be less 
interested in their concerns than formerly. 

Dear Mary Cambridge has been here, and we en- 
joyed her visit so much. We took her back to 
Frankfort to-day, where we gave her and Aunt 
Cambridge a luncheon in Uncle Louis' Palais. 

June 2ist, 
It is warm, but very windy and dusty here ; we 
were nearly blinded out riding yesterday evening. I 
am reading that most interesting History of Eng- 
land by Pauli, in German, which commences with 
the Congress of Vienna in i8i5, and is, I believe, 
very detailed and correct. It gives a sketch also of 
the reign of George III., and is so well written one 
can scarcely lay the book down. It is part of a 
work written by the best German professors on Eng- 
land, Russia, Italy, France, Spain, and Austria in 
those years, and I am reading them one after 
another. They are thick books, and eight volumes. 

Kranichstein, July 2d. 
We both thank you for your kind wishes for our 
wedding-day. It was rainy and not fine, but we 
spent it very happily indoors — Affie and Mary with 



no PJilNCESS ALICE. 

US. Dr. Weber now wishes (as we should have to 
o-o from Blankenbero-he back to Coburo-, and then 
again all the journey back), that I should not bathe 
at all this year, as all the good would be undone by 
the hurried journey, and the excitement of the sea 
air mif{ht not be eood for Victoria. We are all to 
go instead for four weeks to Switzerland, beginning 
with Rigi Kaltbad, and this we greatly prefer. We 
go into the mountains at once for the bracing air. 
On Saturday until Tuesday we go to Baden for the 
christening of the baby. We both are god-parents. 

Kranichstein, July loth. 

* * * Ella already says, since some time, 
" Papa " and " Mama," and calls herself, and crawls, 
and is very forward and merry — such a contrast to 
Victoria, who is so pale and fair, and now thin, for 
Ella's eyes are so dark blue, and her hair of such a 
rich brown, that you would never take the little 
things for sisters. They are very fond of each other, 
and so dear together, that they give us much pleas- 
ure. I would not change them for boys, if I could; 
this little pair of sisters is so nice, and they can be 
such friends to each other. 

I hope you will be comfortable here, but we are 
much annoyed not to be able to be there to receive 
you. None of the family will be here, save perhaps 
my mother-in-law with poor Fritz Schwerin, who is 
expected then. 

We mean to start on the 2 5th, and we go as pri- 
vate people, on account of the expense. We are 
only going to Oberland, and sha'n't go very far about. 

Kranichstein, July 17th. 

* '^* * It was 95° in the shade yesterday at 
eight in the morning, and I think the heat increases. 



IN HER NE W HOME, 1 1 1 

Dr. Lyon Playfair lunched with us yesterday ; he is 
so charmino". To-morrow mornino- at five we o-o to 
Bonn for the day, and shall be there before ten. 
The heat is too great to go at any other time. We 
start next Tuesday evening, and on Wednesday 
shall be on the Rio^i. 

This morning at six o'clock we rode to the exer- 
cising — I on a new horse, for two hours and a half 
over sand without any shade. 

Mary [Duchess of Teck] has been so kind as to 
give us a boat, which we expect shortly. It is to be 
christened " Mary Adelaide," after her. 

July 24th. 

Many thanks for your letter, and for the sad ac- 
count of Victoria Brant's ^' death. It is quite shock- 
ing, and she was my dearest friend of those contem- 
poraries, and the one I saw the most of. " In the 
midst of life we are in death " ; and the uncertainty 
of all earthly things makes life a real earnest, and no 
dream. Our whole life should be a preparation and 
expectation for eternity. Merry as she was, she was 
yet very serious and thoughtful ; but what a loss she 
will be to her poor parents and husband! 

I have made all arrangements for your comfort 
here. I own I do not like your coming here when 
we and the whole family are away — it looks so odd! 
[forgot to tell you, in answer to your question about 
Ella's name, that she of course must be called 
" Elizabeth," entre nous only " Ella," for she bears my 
dear mama-in-law's name. 

RiGi Kaltbad, August ist. 

I am enchanted, delighted with this magnificent 

* Daughter of M. Van de Weyer, the Belgian Minister Plenipotentiary in 
England. She had been thrown out from her carriage, and died from the 
effect of the injuries received. 



112 PRINCESS ALICE. 

scenery. Oh, how you would admire it ! When I 
am sketching, I keep telHng Louis how much more 
Hke you would make the things ; one can always 
recognize the places when you draw them. 

We left Darmstadt at eight Wednesday morning, 
the 26th, slept at Basel that night, and we got there 
early enough to see the fine church in a thunder 
storm. The next day we only went to Lucerne, as 
the weather was not fine enough to ascend the Rigi. 
It was a lovely afternoon, and the lake of a marvel- 
lous green color. The Pilatus was quite clear for a few 
hours. The next morning we two, the children, Mof- 
fat, Harriet the nursery-maid, Logoz and wife, Jager, 
and Beck, our whole party, started in a very crowded 
steamer for Waggis. Splendid weather, though 
cloudy. We then, on horses and in chairs carried 
by three or six men, made our ascent along a wind- 
ing, narrow, steep path, below rocks, past ravines, 
w^here little chalets are situated, and all over the 
green pasture cows and goats feeding with bells 
round their necks. Westerweller was here when we 
arrived ; he acts courier, and when we make long 
expeditions remains with the children. This is a 
very roomy hotel, crammed full of people, among them 
some odd Austrian ladies whom we see below walk- 
ing on the terrace — very smart, and smoking. We 
two have been on mules with a guide — such a funny 
man, who was a soldier at Naples, and was at the 
siege of Qaeta — on all the expeditions hereabout. 

To-morrow we leave, and go till Monday to 
Buochs, on the other side of the lake ; then to En- 
gelberg, where Uncle Adalbert and his wife will be. 
The children are well ; Victoria very troublesome, 
but Ella good and amiable as ever. As I am writing 
at the window, the clouds cover the lake and the 



IN HER NE W HOME. 1 1 3 

lower mountains, and I can only see the quite hig"h 
ones with glaciers, which are of such a splendid 
shape. 

The color of the Scotch mountains is, I think, 
finer ; but here they are, first of all, so enormously 
high, and then such fine shapes, and the mountains 
are studded with trees and rocks down below, and 
of a green color. 

The air is very light and cold, but the sun intense. 
We are going off for the day again on our mules, so 
I must close. Of course many funny incidents take 
place, which I reserve to tell you when we meet. 

I do hope the heat will be over for your journey, 
and that it will be fine when you are at our dear 
Kranichstein. Marie Grancy will be there to receive 
you, and do any thing which is required. 

Engelberg, Hotel Titlis, August 8th, 
These lines I send by Becker, and hope you will 
receive them at Kranichstein. * * * j hope 
you found all you wanted in the rooms, and that the 
meals were as you like them. I ordered all, and 
wrote all down before leaving, as I know what you 
like. 

We were for some days at Buochs, a very pretty 
village ; and we lived in three detachments in differ- 
ent common Swiss houses, very comfortable on the 
whole, but not smelling very nice, so that I could 
scarcely eat while we were there. 

Yesterday morning, in a very funny two-seated 
carriage with one horse, we left, 'the children and 
servants following in a bigger carriage. A nearly 
four hours' drive through the most beautiful scenery, 
up a narrow valley through which the Aa runs, 
brought us here. The last two hours are a steep 
ascent on the side of a precipice ; beautiful vegeta- 



114 FJilNCESS ALICE. 

tioii through the wood all the way upward ; view on 
the high mountains with snow and glaciers close by. 
On coming to the top there is a narrow and lovely 
green valley studded with peasants' cottages, and in 
the centre a Benedictine Abbey, near which our 
hotel is situated. The valley is of very green grass ; 
the tops of the mountains quite rocky, with snow; 
Lower down, and skirting the valley, which is quite 
shut in by the hills, fine trees ; several very high 
waterfalls, in the style of the Glassalt (near Balmo- 
ral), only much higher. This Alpine valley is said 
to give the most perfect idea of a Swiss valley up in 
the mountains. One can ascend the Titlis ; but it is 
said to be dangerous, so we sha'n't attempt it. We 
are very careful, and Louis won't undertake any 
thing risky. The scenery seen from the carriage 
merely is so splendid that one may well be content 
with that. Unfortunately, to-day it pours, and it is 
very cold. The children are very well. The jour- 
ney has really done Victoria good, and she begins 
to have an appetite, which with her is a very rare 
thing. 

The next place we go to is Meyringen. We mean 
to ride there over the Joch Pass, but the children 
must go back the same way to get round, as there 
is no other way out of this valley. We will leave 
them then with Westerweller, and go to the Grin- 
delwald, Interlaken, etc. ; and then return home by 
the 29th probably. The children are living in a 
cottacre here also. 

o 

Pension Belle Vue, ) 

Tracht bei Brienz, August 14th. ) • 

* 'X- * Q^jj, j.j^g from Engelberg over the Joch 

Pass to Meyringen was quite beautiful ; but a worse 

way than any we have ever been out on in Scotland. 

We were eleven hours on the road, and the sun 



IN HER NE W HOME. 1 1 5 

was very hot, and the walking on these steep 
bad paths made one still hotter ; but we enjoyed it 
very much, and I never saw any thing grander or 
more masfniticent. * * '^ I have made little 
scribbles on the way. * * * To-day we two 
with two horses were to have walked and ridden to 
the Grindelwald, over the Rosenlaui glacier, and to 
have gone on the next day to Interlaken, but the 
weather is so bad that it is impossible, and, not being 
satisfied with the prices, etc., at the hotel of Mey- 
ringen, we came on here, an hour's drive, near to the 
beautiful falls of the Giessbach, which we saw on Sun- 
day. * * * The weather will determine whether 
we can make an expediton to-morrow. 

We shall be home on Friday by Thun and Basel, 
where we sleep. What day are we to be at Coburg, 
and for how long exactly? I believe only two 
or three days. 

The white heather is from above Eneelbere, near 
Brienz. 

Pension Belle Vue, August 15th. 

I have this instant received your dear letter from 
Kranichstein, and, though only just returned from an 
expedition to the Rosenlaui glacier, I sit down at 
once to thank you with all my heart for such dear 
lines. How glad I am all was comfortable, and that 
you were pleased with your day in our nice Kranich- 
stein ! I am glad you missed us a little. * * * 
But I must tell you of to-day. We drove to Reich- 
enbach, close to the falls, took a guide and horses, 
and in two hours by a steep stony path got to 
Rosenlaui. The view on the Wetterhorn, covered 
with snow, and on the Wellborn, which is a rugged 
rock on the other side of it, the white sparkling 
glacier, is quite beautiful. The shapes and immense 



Il6 PRINCESS ALICE. 

height of the mountains are so imposing. I look, 
admire, wonder ; one can't find words to express 
what one feels. How you would admire the scenery ! 
Papa was so fond of it all. 

Kranichstein, August 21st. 
These will be my last lines until we meet. We re- 
turned here well, having unfortunately, though, much 
rain from Interlaken to Basel. At Thun we were in 
the same hotel as Blanche and Mademoiselle 
Bernard, and to-morrow we expect Uncle Nemours, 
Marguerite, and Alengon, whom we asked to dinner 
on their way to Frankfort. I am mostly at the 
Rosenhohe with my mama-in-law, as she is quite 
alone. I was in town with her, and read to her this 
morning ; she is ever so dear and kind. I do love 
her so much. Ever since Ella's birth we have been 
drawn so closely to each other, and I admire her 
also now that I know and understand her. There is 
so much beneath, so much Geniiith, tenderness, and 
delicacy of feeling. It is indeed a blessing to have 
such people as they are for parents-in-law. 

September ist. 

Uncle George was here yesterday. Vicky remains 
with us till the 5th, and gives me so much pleasure 
to be able to repay her for her hospitality this 
winter. 

We were at the christening of Becker's baby, 
which went off so well. In the morning we had 
to go through High Mass for the inauguration of the 
Grand Duchess' monument in the Catholic church. 

Poor papa-in-law, who went to bathe for his head- 
ache, has had such a return of his cough that he is 
coming back here on Monday. I hope they will go 
to Switzerland later. 



IN HER NE W HOME. 1 1 7 

Kranichstein, September 8th. 

* * * After having missed the train they in- 
tended to come by, Bertie and Alix arrived at three 
o'clock. They dined with us. Louis then took him 
to the theatre, and I drove her about. 

My poor father-in-law's throat is very bad, and 
gives him much pain. I am really very anxious 
about him. 

We leave to-morrow afternoon at four, and shall 
spend the following day at Ostend, embarking in the 
evening. Till the end of the week we intend stop- 
ping in town, and if Bertie and Alix remain longer, 
we shall leave by the limited mail (for Balmoral). 

Inverness, October 8th. 

This is a very fine town, and the country is very 
beautiful. We took a walk this morning, and shall 
drive this afternoon. It was thought better not to 
go to a kirk, as the people seemed to look out for us. 

Again a thousand thanks for having arranged this 
nice journey for us, which we enjoy so much. I 
thought so much of you and dear Papa yesterday 
durino- our ride.* 

Sandringham, November i6th. 

^ * '"" I am pleased that the children are well 
under your roof. I know they have all they can 
want. Bertie had such bad toothache yesterday ; 
Louis also a little ; the cold air must be the cause, 
for it is so sharp here. 

Alix and I practice together for an hour of an 
evening. '^ ^ ^' Alix drove me down to the sea 
the other day, and a most alarming drive it was, for 
the horses pulled, and to our astonishment the 
coachman suddenly alighted between us, with his 

* See " Leaves from a Journal," Grantown, 1S60. 



Il8 PRINCESS ALICE. 

feet in the air, from the back seat, and cauorht hold 
of the reins — it was too funny. I hope to be near 
you again on Saturday. 

CoBLENZ, November 25th. 

* * * Having just a quarter of an hour to 
myself before leaving this, I hasten to write to you a 
few lines to tell you that we have travelled quite 
well so far. May will have told you about our pas- 
sage. I have been sick ever since, which is dread- 
ful. Henry and William joined us at Bonn, and 
came here with us. 

The Queen was most kind. We spent the even- 
ing most pleasantly en /ami lie with her, and whilst 
we dined alone toQ^ether she had to o;o to a town 
ball. 

Darmstadt, November 28th. 

% % * J ^^^ j^y father-in-law looking better, 
I am happy to say, though far from strong ; and 
alas ! one of his lunas is affected. Thouo-h, with 
care, one can guard him from evil consequences, 
still of course, it is an anxious thing. All the family 
are very grateful for your kind messages, and send 
their respects to you. 

* '■'■ * The children are very well, and Vic- 
toria said to my mother, " Meine Grossmama, die 
Koniginn, has got a little vatch with a birdie," and 
she is always speaking of all at Windsor, but 
principally of the things in your room. I am so 
glad that you are pleased with the children's picture. 
I admire it so much. 

It is warm and damp here. * ^^ '^ I have a 
great deal to do. '"" * * 

We have been over the new house yesterday, and 
alas ! found many things not quite what they were 
intended to be. * * * 



IN HER NEW HOME. II9 

Darmstadt, December 5th. 

Many thanks for your letter received yesterday, 
with the account of Lenchen's Verlobung [betrothal]. 
I am so glad she is happy, and I hope every bless- 
ing will rest on them both that one can possibly 
desire. 

I had a letter from Marie Brabant two days ago, 
where she says dear Uncle's [King Leopold's] state 
is hopeless ; but yesterday she telegraphed that he 
was rather better. What a loss it would be if he 
were to be taken from us, for his very name and ex- 
istence, though he takes no active part in politics, 
are of weight and value. 

Yesterday I was painting in oils, and I copied my 
sketch of the Sluggan, and, if it be in any way at all 
presentable and fit to give, I will send it to you. I 
hope it won't be very Chinese, for our sketches had 
a certain likeness to works of art of that country. 
Louis is very busy here. He has begrun his military 
duties ; he has the command and Vei'-wallung [ad- 
ministration] of the Cavalry Brigade. To-day he 
has to go to the Chamber, and he is going to attend 
the different offices — home department, finances, 
justice, etc., — so as to get a knowledge of the routine 
of business. * * * Louis of Portugal and 
family passed through here yesterday, and went to 
Frankfort. I have inquired if they are there still, 
and if they are we shall try to see them. I am so 
curious to see Marie Pia. ''■" * * 

All our Hofstaat [Court circle] lay their good 
wishes for Lenchen's engagement at your feet. 

Darmstadt, December 8th. 
We are so grieved and distressed at dear Uncle 
Leopold's alarming state, and have given up all hope, 
the accounts are so bad. Oh, were there but a chance 



I20 FJ?INCESS ALICE. 

for you, or for any of us who love him so dearly, to 
be near him durinof his last hours ! 

December nth. 

Many thanks for your letter. Alas, alas ! beloved 
Uncle Leopold is no more ! How much for you, 
for us, for all, goes with him to the grave ! One tie 
more of those dear old times is rent ! 

I do feel for you so much, for dear Uncle was in- 
deed a father to you. Now you are head of all the 
family — it seems incredible, and that dear Papa 
should not be by your side. 

The regret for dear Uncle Leopold is universal — 
he stood so high in the eyes of all parties ; his life 
was a history in itself — and now that book is closed. 
Oh, it is so sad, and he is such a loss ! I am almost 
glad this sorrow has fallen into those days already so 
hallowed by melancholy and precious recollections. 
How I recollect every hour, every minute of those 
days. In thinking- of them one feels over again the 
hope, the anxiety, and lastly the despair and grief of 
that irretrievable loss. The Almighty stood by you 
and us, and enabled us to bear it, for I always wonder 
that we lived through that awful time. 

The future world seems so like a real home, for 
there are so many dear ones to meet again. There 
is something peculiarly sad in the death of the last 
one of a large family — to feel that none is left to tell 
of each other, and of their earlier life, which the 
younger ones could know only through their lips. 

December 15th. 

Many thanks for your letter. I was so anxious to 
hear something of our beloved Uncle's end ; it 
seems to have been most peaceful. 

There will be many Princes at Brussels, I believe. 



IN HER NEW HOME. 121 

How much I thought of you and of dear Papa on 
the 14th! Dear Louis leaves me this afternoon. 
He will reach Brussels at five to-morrow morning, 
and remain over the Sunday. 

The accession of the new King and the honors 
that have at once to be paid are so painful, following 
so closely on the death of one we have loved and 
known in that position. As the French say : "■ Le 
Roi est mort. Vive le Roi ! " 

December 20th, 

* '^ '"'" I was sitting up for Louis till half-past 
eleven with Countess Blucher- — who leaves to-day, 
and has spent a few days with me — when he, and to 
my astonishment Bertie also, came into the room. 
The next day, alas ! he had to leave again at four ; 
but still, short as his stay was, it was a token of his 
constant love for me, and it touched me very much, 
for I ever loved him so dearly. 

Every thing went off well at Brussels as you will 
have heard. The more I realize that we shall never 
see beloved Uncle Leopold again, the sadder I grow. 
He had, apart from all his excellent qualities, such a 
charm as I believe we shall seldom find again. 

The dear Countess is well. We made the dinine- 
room into a bedroom for her, and we dined down- 
stairs, I was so afraid of her getting cold, if she 
lived out of the house. 

Darmstadt, December 24th. 

* "^^ * How I wish beloved Uncle were brought 
to Windsor to rest there as he had wished ! I won- 
dered so much that every thing had taken place at 
Laeken, knowing that dear Uncle had wished it 
otherwise. 

Uncle Louis wishes me to thank you once more 



122 PRINCESS ALICE. 

for the Christmas eatables, and my mother-in-law 
likewise for the lovely little frame and photograph. 
They are both much touched by this kind attention 
on your part. 

. Christmas Day. 

•jc- * % ^Q j-^g Christmas is always sad now, 
and for Louis and his family it was so likewise this 
year ; my parents-in-law felt it very much. We 
went to the Military Church at eight this morning. 
It is the service we like best ; but it was bitterly 
cold, every thing snow white. 

I hope my little picture, though very imperfect, 
found favor in your eyes. It gave me such pleasure 
doing- it for you, thinking of you and our expedition 
the whole time I was doine it. 

December 30th. 

This is my last letter this year. In many ways a 
happy one has it been, though it has deprived us of 
many dear and near ones. Each year brings us 
nearer to the Wiedersehen [reunion with the dead], 
though it is sad to think how one's glass is running 
out, and how little good goes with it compared to 
the numberless blessings we receive. Time goes in- 
credibly fast. 

Every earnest and tender wish from us both is 
yours, dear Mama, for this coming year with its ex- 
pected events. May God's blessing rest on this new 
union which is to be formed in our family, and may 
dear Lenchen be as happy as all those who loved 
her can wish ! I am sorry to think that I shall 
propably not see her again until she is married ; but 
I am glad for her sake that the Brazttstand [the be- 
trothal period] is not to be long. 

I send you a locket with Ella's miniature, which I 
hope will please you. 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 



1866-1872. 



" Life is meant for work, and not for pleasure." {August 29, 1866.) 



1866, 

THIS year, which brought such important changes 
to the pohtical hfe of Germany, was also in 
many ways full of sorrow and trouble to the Princess, 
and the hard and painful- struggle through which 
Germany passed affected her very nearly. 

During the early part of the year, the new palace 
was completed, and in it the Princess had the satis- 
faction of seeino- her wishes realized, and of feelinof 
both comfortable and "at home." She was also 
able during this new year to extend the field of her 
practical usefulness. 

Princess Alice attended some very interesting 
lectures on the necessity of providing special asylums 
for poor idiots, delivered by a very clever and enter- 
prising " orthodox" clergyman from the Odenwald. 
She took up the idea most warmly, and determined 
to found such an institution herself, but in doing this 
found herself face to face with very serious difficul- 
ties. The lecturer and those who sided with him 

123 



124 PRINCESS ALICE. 

wished that any institution of this kind should bear 
a strictly religious stamp. The Princess did not agree 
in this view. She wished to separate the religious 
from the practical part of the work. She wished 
people to feel, that they were bound to help to 
alleviate sickness and suffering (in whatever form) 
out of mere love to their fellow-creatures, and 
not only as the fulfilment of a religious duty. While 
the Princess always acknowledged the value of re- 
ligious motives in carrying out works of charity, she 
felt strongly, in this particular case, that the treat- 
ment of idiots should be left to the medical pro- 
fession, without any foreign interference. 

A committee was formed of persons who shared 
the Princess' views, and who were commissioned by 
her to take the necessary steps for carrying out her 
plans. By far the most difficult part of the work fell 
to her own share — ^namely, that of finding the neces- 
sary funds. To obtain these she organized a Bazaar 
in her new palace. This was a totally novel pro- 
ceeding in Germany, and well calculated to attract a 
large number of visitors. The Bazaar was opened 
on the 6th of April, and lasted four days. The 
Princess and Prince Louis and her brother, Prince 
Alfred, took an active part in it. The result sur- 
passed utmost expectations, a success mainly due to 
her own personal efforts, and to the charm which she 
exercised over all. At the close of the Bazaar she 
was not only able to announce that she had realized 
the sum of 16,000 florins, but that she had also gained 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 1 25 

the conviction that the whole country supported her 
in her unclertakino-. 

In spite of the success of this Bazaar, the Princess 
was in later years opposed to a repetition of such 
an expedient, as she felt — what many do — that people 
often come on such occasions for their own personal 
amusement rather than to aid the charity. 

The war of 1866, which was the consequence of 
the unfortunate conflict about the Duchies of Schles- 
wig-Holstein, was viewed by the Princess with feel- 
ings in which personal interests and attachments 
conflicted witlj political convictions. She was so 
truly German that she felt most keenly the struggle 
between Germans and Germans, or as she herself 
says in one of her letters, " brother against brother." 

At times she could not help being downcast, be- 
cause she saw how much her husband and her hus- 
band's country suffered from it, and because she 
foresaw how disastrous to South Germany the results 
of such a war must be. Prince Louis himself was 
soon obliged to assume his command in the field. 

The Princess o^ave birth to a third daughter on the 
nth of July, during the most anxious days of that 
trying time. Prince Louis had happened to be home 
on leave for a few days when the event took place ; 
but he was obliged to leave the Princess on the 14th 
of July, and to go at once into action at Aschaffen- 
burg. As the South-German troops had to retreat, 
all communication with his home for some time was 
cat off. 



126 PRINCESS ALICE. 

On the 31st of July the Prussians under General 
von Go ben entered Darmstadt. Prince Louis' pa- 
rents, who were the only relations remaining in 
Darmstadt, were daily with the Princess. On the 
8th of August, whilst on her way home from visiting 
her parents-in-law, the Princess unexpectedly met 
the Prince in the street. He had obtained leave of 
absence during a short armistice. The joy of this 
meeting can easily be pictured! The Prince and 
Princess together visited the wounded; and on the 
loth of August the Prince was appointed by the 
Grand Duke to the command of the Hessian divi- 
sion then in the field. By the Grand Duke's wish 
the Prince went for two days to Berlin, and then 
joined the troops in Rhenish Hesse. He took up 
his quarters in the " Gelbe Haus" at Nierstein-Op- 
penheim, and the Princess courageously shared them 
with him — in spite of the cholera then raging there. 
On the 1 2th of September— Prince Louis' birthday 
— the little Princess was christened at Darmstadt by 
the military chaplain ; she received the names Irene 
(Peace) Louise Marie Anna. The same day peace 
was ratified at Berlin — that peace for which the brave 
mother of the child had so ardently longed. 

The Cavalry Brigade wdiich the Prince had com- 
manded stood sponsor to the child. 

It was only on the 20th of September that the 
Prince and Princess with the Hessian division made 
their public entry into Darmstadt. 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 12/ 

January 2d. 

I am at the head of a committee of ladies out of 
the different classes of society to make a large ba- 
zaar, in which all the country is to take part, for the 
Idiot Asylum. It is very difficult — all the more as I 
have never had any thing to do with such things in 
my life. * * * j wanted for the first public 
thing I undertake, to take in all principles, and my 
mother-in-law has given her name to it. I have 
chosen the committee out of different sets — half 
adelig [people of rank] half biirgerlich [of the citi- 
zen class], and all these ladies, half of whom I did 
not know before, come and sit in my small room and 
discuss — and, as yet, do not disagree. 

January 6th. 

* * * The people here are so much pleased 
that my Louis takes such active part in all his duties — 
military and civil, for he attends the different offices, 
and as General, I hear, he keeps great order where 
there was until now disorder and great abuse of 
power. Of course, I see him much less, and some 
days scarcely at all. 

On the 14th we go to Gotha for about a fortnight, 
without the children. 

Gotha, January 19th. 

Dear Uncle and Aunt are well, and we are very 
happy here, for they are always kindness itself to us. 
Uncle looks very well, but he grows very stout, 
I think. We saw the B^'aut von Messina [Schiller's] 
so well given two nights ago. I thought so much of 
dear Papa, who admired it greatly ; and Uncle 
Ernest told me he had it given for you, when you 
first came here. 

Gotha, January 22d. 

* * * Two nights ago Uncle, Louis, and I, 



128 PRINCESS ALICE. 

with a very clever old actress, read a piece together. 
Louis resisted at first, but it went very well. You 
can't imagine how mild it is. I have the windows 
always open. Gustav Freitag is here. I am always 
glad to see him. He is a good friend to Uncle, and 
he is so honest and straightforward. 

GoTHA, January 26th. 

I shall be very sorry to go away from here — the 
whole atmosphere does one good. Dear Uncle is so 
amusing ; he speaks of interesting things, and has 
interesting people. 

Our Quaker acquaintances have sent me a great 
deal for the bazaar, and an old gentleman who heard 
of it, 100/.! I could not believe my eyes. They are 
always so generous : and, hearing of my undertak- 
ing a work of this sort, they sent me this spon- 
taneously. Is it not kind ? 

Darmstadt, February ist. 
It is spring weather here altogether — quite warm 
when one comes out of the house. It is so un- 
natural. The children enjoy it, and are out a great 
deal, looking so well and strong : I wish you 
could see them. The little one is growing up to her 
sister very fast, and actually wears the frocks Vic- 
toria wore last year. I wish you could hear all the 
extraordinary things Victoria says. Ella is civil to all 
strangers — excepting to my mother-in-law, or to old 
ladies. It is too tiresome. There is a large ball 
given by the officers at their Casino to-night, to 
which we must go. It will be crowded and hot. 
Our house gets on tolerably. The housekeeper, 
a Berlinerinn, comes on the 20th, and we are told 
that we can go into the house next month. I can't 
help doubting it, and I regret leaving this nice little 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 1 29 

house, where our first happy years have been spent. 
I am so glad that you have at least been in the new 
house, so that I can always think that you are no 
stranger to it, which makes me like it much better. 

February loth. 

% % «• J ^j^ happy to think you are quiet 
at Osborne after all you had to go through. The 
emotion and all other feelings recalled by such an 
event must have been very powerful and have tried 
you much.* It was noble of you, my darling Mama, 
and the great effort will bring compensation. Think 
of the pride and pleasure it would have given darling 
Papa — the brave example to others not to shrink 
from their duty ; and it has shown that you felt the 
intense sympathy which the English people evinced, 
and still evince, in your great misfortune. 

How to-day recalls those bright and happy former 
years ! There is no cloud without a silver lining, 
and the lining to the black cloud which overshadows 
your existence is the bright recollection of the past 
blending into the bright hope of a happy future ; a 
small part of it also is the intense love of your chil- 
dren and nation, which casts a light around you 
which many live to enjoy and admire, and which few 
— if any — possess like you. I wish I could have 
sent a fine nosegay of orange blossoms for to-day, 
but they could not have arrived fresh so I gave it 

Louis sends his tenderest love, and wishes me to 
say how much his thoughts with mine are to-day 
constantly with you. He is very industrious, and 
has a great deal to do now^ and, I hear, does all very 
well. 

* The opening of Parliament by the Queen for the first time after the 
death of the Prince Consort. 



130 PRINCESS ALICE. 

Darmstadt, February 15th. 
How dear of you to have written to me on the 
loth— a day of such recollections ! That last 
happy wedding-day at Buckingham Palace, how well 
I remember it, and all the previous ones at Windsor, 
when we all stood before your door, waiting for you 
and dear Papa to come out. You both looked so 
young, bright, and handsome. As I grew older, it 
made me so proud to have two such dear parents ! 
And that my children should never know you both 
too^ether — that will remain a sorrow to me as lonof 
as I live. 

Darmstadt, March loth. 

* * * Your idea of Friedrichroda for us was 
so good, but alas ! now even that will be impracti- 
cable, on account of money. Louis has had to take 
up money again at Coutt's to pay for the house, and 
the house is surety. 

We must live so economically — not going any- 
where, or seeing many people, so as to be able to 
spare as much a year as we can. England cost us 
a great deal, as the visit was short last time. We 
have sold four carriage horses, and have only six to 
drive with now, two of which the ladies constantly 
want for theatre, visits, etc. ; so we are rather badly 
off in some things. But I should not bore you with 
our troubles, which are easy to bear. 

March i6th. 
How trying the visit to Aldershot must have been, 
but it is so wise and kind of you to go. I cannot 
think of it without tears in my eyes. Formerly that 
was one of the greatest pleasures of^my girlhood, 
and you and darling Papa looked so handsome to- 
gether. I so enjoyed following you on those occa- 



A T HOME AND A T WORK. 1 3 1 

sions. Such moments I should like to call back for 
an instant. 

Our house here is quite empty, and the demenage- 
ment creates such work. To-morrow night we sleep 
for the first time in the new house. 

March lyth. 

I write from our dear little old house. May dear 
Papa's and your blessing rest on our new home, as 
I am sure it will ! It is full of souvenirs of you both 
— all your pictures, photographs of dear brothers 
and sisters and home. It reminds me a little of 
Osborne, of Buckingham Palace, a little even of 
Balmoral. Could I but show it to darling Papa ! If 
I have any taste, I owe it all to him, and I learned 
so much by seeing him arrange pictures, rooms, 
etc. 

At half-past seven we go into our house to-night. 
Bender is to say a prayer and pronounce a blessing, 
when we with all our household are assembled in 
hall ; only Louis' parents and William besides our- 
selves. Yours and dear Papa's I pray to rest on 
us. , 

March 20th. 

That [the death of the Duchess of Kent] was 
the commencement of all the grief; but with dar- 
ling Papa, so full of tenderness, sympathy and deli- 
cate feeling for you, how comparatively easy to bear, 
compared to all that followed ! 

-X- * * ^g ^j.g very comfortably established 
here, and I can't fancy that I am in Germany, the 
house and all its arrangements being so English. 
When can we hope once to have you here ? Of 
course that is the summit of our wishes. Your 
rooms are on the east side and very cool — as you 
always go abroad when it is hot, and suffer so much 



132 PRINCESS ALICE. 

from the heat. I shall die of it this year, as my 
rooms are to the west. 

March 24th. 

* * * Our grand-uncle of Homburg has 
just died, so that Homburg falls to Uncle Louis now. 
But all the thino-s of the Landorravine Elizabeth o-o to 
Princess Reuss, and her [Aunt Elizabeth's *] rooms 
are full of beautiful miniatures, oil-paintings, and 
ornaments en masse, like Gloucester House. 

I shall be so glad to see dear Affie. His rooms 
are to be ready by this evening. The house is very 
comfortable, but the weather is awful — wind, rain, 
and sleet. In spite of it the house is so cheerful. 

How sorry I am for you that dear Auntf is gone. 
As she was so well this time, it will be a reason 
more for her returning soon to you. 

Dear Lady Frances Baillie was with me on Thurs- 
day, so dear and charming. 

April 2d. 

* * * "Yyg ^j-g livingr in such a state of anxi- 
ety and alarm. War| would be too fearful a thing to 
contemplate — brother against brother, friend against 
friend, as it will be in this case ! May the Almighty 
avert so fearful a calamity ! Here, at Mayence and 
PVankfort, it will begin, if any thing happens, as 
there are mixed garrisons ; and we must side with 
one against the other. For Henry, who is still here, 
it is dreadful. He can't desert at such a moment, 
and yet if he should have to draw his sword against 
his country, his brothers fighting on the other side ! 
Fancy the complications and horrors of such a war ! 

* Princess Elizabeth of Great Britain and Ireland, Princess Alice's grand- 
aunt. 

f Princess Holienlohe. 

i War between Prussia and Austria was now imminent. 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 1 33 

For Vicky and Fritz it is really dreadful ; please 
let me hear by messeng-er what you hear from them. 
I am sure you think of us in these troubled times. 
What would dear Papa have said to all this ? I long 
to hear from you, to know that your warm heart is 
acting for Germany. 

March 26th. 

* * * The dear old Queen Marie Amelie * is 
gone to her rest at last, after a long and so stormy a 
life ! Claremont is now also altered. How sad 
those constant chano-es are ! It reminds one asfain 
and again that we are on a journey, and that the 
real home \s e[s&\\\\(tve. All those who work hard 
and love their fellow-creatures meet again, and the 
thorny path will be forgotten which leads to the 
happy meeting. I sincerely mourn for the dear 
Queen, and she was so kind to me always. I am 
glad she was one of Victoria's god-mothers. 

April 7th. 

* * * Our Bazaar goes off wonderfully : 7,000 
florins the first day, and to-day again a great deal. 
Affie was invaluable in arranging, selling, and assist- 
ing in every way. There have been crowds these 
two days, as in England : something quite unusual 
for the quiet inhabitants of this place. They have 
shown so much zeal and devotion that I am quite 
touched by it, as I am more or less a stranger to 
them. 

April 25th. 

Thousand thanks for your dear lines, and for the 

money and charming bas-relief of you, which I think 

very good. I thought so much of former birthdays 

at home in Buckingham Palace. They were so 

* Widow of King Louis Philippe. 



134 PHI ACCESS ALICE. 

happy. We did nothing in particular ; merely dined 
at Kranichstein with Uncle Louis in the afternoon. 
It was warm and fine. 

The money will go at once to Louis' man of busi- 
ness toward paying off the furniture, and is, indeed, 
very, very acceptable, more so under present cir- 
cumstances than any thing else you could give us ; 
and that part of the furniture will then all be your 
present. 

May 3d. 

% :=-• * ^YiQ prospect of war seems to be near- 
ing realization. It will be so dreadful if it does. 
God be with us, if such a misfortune befall poor 
Germany ! These prospects have already done 
much harm to trade. The larofe manufacturies send 
away their superfluous workmen, and they sell next 
to nothing. Most unpopular amongst high and low, 
and amongst people of all opinions, this civil war 
will be. ^^' * * 

I have made all the summer out-walking dresses, 
seven in number, with paletots for the girls — not 
embroidered, but entirely made from beginning to 
end ; likewise the new necessary flannel shawls for 
the expected. I manage all the nursery accounts, 
and every thing myself, which gives me plenty to 
do, as every thing increases, and, on account of the 
house, we must live very economically for these next 
years. 

It is so kind of you to give Dr. Priestley his fee, 
otherwise I would have had scruples in giving so 
large a sum for my own comfort. 

If there is a war then, and Louis is away, what 
shall I do ? This is my constant dread and appre- 
hension. As lonof as he comes home safe aeain — 
that is all I shall think of. Please God to spare me 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. .135 

that fearful anxiety, which weighs on me now al- 
ready ; for he, having only a brigade, could not keep 
out of danger, like Fritz in Schleswig. 

I put my trust wholly in the Almighty, who has 
watched over and blessed our life so richly thus far 
— so mtich, much more than I ever deserved, or can 
deserve ; and He will not forsake us in the hour of 
need, I am sure. 

These dangerous times make one very serious 
and anxious ; the comfort of faith and trust in God, 
who does all well and for the best, is the only sup- 
port. Life is but a pilgrimage — a little more or a 
little less sorrow falls to one's lot ; but the anticipa- 
tion of evil is almost as great a suffering as the evil 
itself, and mine always was an anxious nature, so I 
cannot banish the thouo-hts which all the dreadful 
chances of war force upon one. 

May 7th. 

* * * I am so sorry for poor Louise and Bea- 
trice, and whooping-cough is a nasty thing, though 
I wish we could complain of that as our sufferings 
here. Anxiety, worry without end ! 

Uncle Alexander returned from Vienna two days 
ago. The Emperor, Uncle Alexander Mensdorff, 
all frantic at beinof forced into war, but fearinsf now 
no more being able to prevent it. Cannot the other 
three Powers interfere and step between at this dan- 
gerous crisis — proposing a Congress, or any thing, 
so as to avert this calamity ? 

Henry, who was here on six weeks' leave, as he 
and Uncle Louis were to hav^e gone to Russia (which 
now, of course, they won't do), had suddenly to re- 
turn to Bonn, as his regiment is made mobil. Uncle 
Alexander receives the command of the 8th Armee- 
corps, which I suppose and hope will be stationed 



136 PRINCESS ALICE. 

somewhere near here, as Louis is in that, and is to 
go. He means to go to BerHn this afternoon for a 
day to see Fritz, and tell him how circumstances now 
force him to draw his sword against the Prussians in 
the service of his own country. The whole thing is 
dreadful, and the prospect of being left alone here at 
such a moment (for all our people, nearly, will accom- 
pany Louis) is dreadful ! If I were only over my 
troubles I should not be so anxious, so nervous and 
unhappy, as I must say the anticipation of all these 
dreadful things makes me. Could I follow in the 
distance i But now that is impossible, and I have 
not a single older married person near me. When 
dear Louis goes, of course Westerweller goes too. 
I still pray and hope that there be no war ; even if 
all the troops are assembled, I hope that the other 
Powers will interfere, and not look on whilst these 
brothers cut each others throats. It is such an un- 
natural, monstrous war ! 

The death of Lord and Lady Rivers is dreadful 
for their children, but how blessed for themselves! 
I hope Lady Caroline [Barrington] will pass by here, 
which will be a great pleasure to me, though she says 
she can but stop two days, as you wish her to be 
home by the i5th. 

May i8th. 

* * * How glad I am to hear that Lord 
Clarendon is still hopeful ! Here as yet, though 
there is no distinct reason for it, save the repug- 
nance of all to this civil war, all still hope to avoid 
the war. Every day we have occasion to hear how 
the Prussians detest this war — army and all — and 
there are constant rows, with the Landwehr in par- 
ticular. Men of forty, who have families and homes 
to look after, are taken away with their sons ; and 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 1 37 

those who have horses are also taken, with their 
horses : so that the wife and children sit at home, 
unable to do any thing for their land. It is ruining 
numbers, and murmurs get louder and louder. A 
revolution must break out if this continues, -^i- * * 
I do pray most fervently that the King will listen to 
the just advice, in no way derogatory to his dignity, 
of placing the hated question of the Duchies before 
the Confederation ; but I fear he won't. If he would 
only listen to that advice and disarm, all Germany 
would do it at once — only too gladly — forgetting all 
the losses in the happiness of peace restored. For- 
give my stupid letter, but we live really so in the 
midst of these affairs, on which our existence will 
turn, that I can think of nothing else. 

Austria can't hold out much longer, and the 
country is getting very violent against the King and 
Bismarck. The Emperor is less able to concede and 
keep peace. 

Now good-bye, dearest Mama. We are so grate- 
ful to you for taking the children, if any thing comes 
to pass. 

May 22d. 

:i: % •?:- /^ny thing you hear of Vicky and Fritz, 
will you write it to me .^ '^" * * The cloud 
grows blacker every day, and the anxiety we all 
live in is very great. But I ought not to write to 
you to-day of such gloomy things, which, thank 
God, you only see and hear of from the other side of 
the water. 

May 25th. 

* * * The Duke and Duchess of Nassau were 
here yesterday. They, like me, are in such an un- 
pleasant position, should it come to blows, which I 
still hope may be averted — for why should we harm- 
less mortals be attacked ? 



138 FJilNCESS ALICE. 

* * * We shall be beggars very soon, if all 
goes on as it promises to do ; it is quite dreadful, 
and the want of other people (and dissatisfaction) 
increases. * * * I have ordered a good travel- 
ling-bag for Louis, for much the same reason that 
some people take out an umbrella in fine weather to 
keep off the rain, and this is to be against a war. 

* * * I have a sort of Ahmnig [presentiment] 
that it won't come to the worst — for us at least — and 
here we shall keep so quiet, only on the defensive, 
if attacked. 

May 28th. 
% * * There seems a little chance of the 
dreadful prospects being bettered. How I do pray 
it may be the commencement of a better time ; and 
that, if peace be established, it may be so firmly, so 
that one may not live in the daily dread of new 

quarrels re-opening between the two countries. 

* * -x- 

The man who built our house has nearly been 
made bankrupt, and wants money from us to save 
him from ruin, and we can scarcely manage it. The 
ruin this preparation for war, and consequent cessa- 
tion of all speculations, buildings, or trade, has 
brought on people is dreadful, and of course in- 
creases. * ''^ * 

June 8th. 

* * * How precious are your words of love 
and sympathy and the hope you still hold to, that war 
may somehow be averted ! It does me good to hear 
it ; and I know how much, and how lovingly, your 
thoughts dwell with dear Vicky and with me during 
this time of trial. * * * 

June i3lh. 

* * * I fear if the Bund orders the mobiliza- 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 1 39 

tion, and goes against Prussia, our troops will be 
the first to go, and then Louis may get orders to be 
off any day. It is too dreadful ! 1 live in such dread 
that he may have to go just before, or at the very 
moment of my confinement. '''' '''' '''" 

I hope Scotland will do you good. Please God, 
when you return matters may be better. If Austria 
and Prussia would only fight out their quarrel 
together ; but the latter has taken refuge with the 
Bund now, because she wanted it. 

Darmstadt, June i5tb. 

* '''' * The serious illness of poor little Sigis- 
mund * in the midst of all these troubles is really 
dreadful for poor Vicky and Fritz, and they are so 
fond of that merry little child. 

We have just received the news that the Prussians 
have crossed our frontier and established themselves 
at Giessen. The excitement here is dreadful and it 
is very difficult to keep people back from doing 
stupid things — wanting to attack, and so on, which 
with our force alone would be madness. 

Louis — -as always — remains quiet ; but we live in 
a perpetual fever, alarms being sent, being gehetzt 
[stirred up] from Vienna, as they want the Bund to 
go with them at once. It is a dreadful time. I an- 
ticipate it will be the close of the existence of the 
little countries. God stand by us ! Without the 
civil list Uncle Louis and the family are beggars, as 
all the private property belongs to the country. 

It is so kind of dear Lady Ely to offer to come. I 
shall be very glad of it, for from one day to another I 
don't know what Louis' duties may be ; and, when I 
am laid up, it is so pleasant to have some one who 
can write to you. 

* Son of the Crown Prince and Princess of Prussia. See ante, p. 93. 



I40 PRINCESS ALICE. 

June 1 8th. 

These lines I send by our children, whom you will 
so kindly take charge of — alas, that the times should 
be such as to make this necessary ! In your dear 
hands they will be so safe ; and if we can give you 
a little pleasure in sending them, it would be a real 
consolation in parting from them, which we both 
feel very much. 

The state of excitement here is beyond descrip- 
tion. Troops arriving, being billeted about — all will 
be concentrated from here to Frankfort. Two days 
ago the Bund telegraphed for Uncle Alexander to 
come, as the Prussians were advancing ; we, of 
course, were all unprepared, and the confusion and 
fright were dreadful ; but, thank God, they retreated 
again, when they got wind that troops were assem- 
blino^. 

June 24th. 

-X- :i: * T\^^ state of affairs is awful ; perpetual 
friMits and false news arrive. The Prussians are 
coming from Wetzlar or Bingen ; all the bustle and 
alarm for necessary defence ; it is really dreadful. 
Louis' chief has his staff at Frankfort. Louis' cav- 
alry brigade is there likewise, so he has his adjutant, 
etc., there, and does his, work early in the morning 
at Frankfort, returning here in the afternoon, which 
has been kindly allowed on account of me. I remain 
here, of course, as near dear Louis as I can ; and 
now that the children are gone, I have only myself to 
look after. ''^ * =j= j have not the least fear, but 
my anxiety about Louis will be very great, as you 
can imagine. * * * Collections are already 
being made for the hospitals in the field, and the 
necessary things to be got for the soldiers. Illness 
and wounds will be dreadful in this heat. Coarse 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. I4I 

linen and rags are the things of which one can't have 
enough, and I am working, collecting shirts, sheets, 
etc. ; and now I come to ask, if you could send me 
some old linen for rags. In your numerous house- 
holds it is collected twice a year, and sent to 
hospitals. Could I beg for some this time ? It 
would be such a blessing for the poor Germans ; and 
here they are not so rich, and that is a thing of 
w^hich in every war there has been too little. Lint 
I have ordered from England by wish of the doctors ; 
and bandages also they wished for. If you could, 
through Dr. Jenner, procure me some of these 
things, I should be so grateful. '^^ * ''" Four 
dozen shirts we are making in the house. Every 
contribution of linen or of patterns of good cush- 
ions, or any good bed which in the English hospitals 
has been found useful, we should be delighted to 
have. * * * For the moment the people beg 
most for rao^s ; our house beine new, we have 
none. I am tolerably well, and cannot be too thank- 
ful for good nerves. Louis is very low at times, 
nervous at leaving me ; and for him I keep up, 
though at times not without a struggle. May the 
Almighty w^atch over us, and not separate us, is my 
hourly prayer ! 

In your hands we feel the children so safe, though 
we miss them much. It is so kind of you to have 
taken them, and they are strong and health)^ ■^" '^ * 

June 25th. 

Two words by Lady Ely's courier. I am so glad 
she is here. She performed the journey in a day 
and night without difficulty ; and Christa, who 
merely came from Cassel, took three days coming 
by road. 

Alas ! to-morrow Louis' division moves on into 



142 PJ^INCESS ALICE. 

the country to make room for other troops, and he 
must go. It will be too far for him to return — save 
with special permission for a few hours — so we shall 
have to part. My courage is beginning to fail me, 
but I bear up as best I can. God knows what a 
bitter trial it is J He is just in front, so the first ex- 
posed. William is to go in Uncle Alex.'s staff, and 
my poor mama-in-law is beginning to break down 
now. We try to cheer each other. The whole 
thing is so hard : against her countrymen — there 
where Louis has served. The whole thing is so 
contrec(E2tr, and the Prussian soldiers dislike it as 
much as we do. 

I am going to Frankfort with ever so many poor 
wives to take leave of their husbands, who march to- 
day. 

The heat is awful. I have no time to think of 
myself, or I daresay I should have heat, etc., to com- 
plain of. Being still off and on with Louis, and hav- 
ing things to do, keeps me up ; but when he is gone, 
and I have no man here to reassure me, it will 
be dreadful. 

I must close. * * -^^ Letters from home now 
are such a pleasure ; do let any one write to me 
sometimes to give me news of you all. Your own 
child, Alice. 

Darmstadt, July ist. 
* ^^ ''' The parting nma was so hard ! and he 
feels it so dreadfully. I can scarcely manage to 
write. The heat, besides, is overpowering. Our 
dear wedding-day four years ago ! Four years of 
undisturbed, real, and increasing happiness. How I 
thank and bless the Almighty for them, and how 
fervently I pray that we may live over this most bit- 
ter trial ! 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 1 43 

•"- •^- ^^' Whether Henry is engaged or not we 
don't know, and can get no news of him. At any 
rate he is cut off from news of us and the rest of 
Germany ; and, as our army is moving, and he is on 
the extreme wing, at any moment he may find him- 
self opposite to his own brothers and countrymen. It 
is most painful, and has been to my poor father-in- 
law a great shock, as we all hoped he had got away. 
Please let my brothers know this. They will feel for 
this unheard-of position for three brothers to be 
m. " " '^ 

Dear Lady Ely is a comfort and support to me, and 
it was quite a relief to Louis to leave her with me. 
We are both so grateful that she came. Christa is 
quite out of sorts about her country, and sees every 
thing black. Marie is low about her brother ; and 
we are so in the middle of it all, that an English per- 
son who has no one concerned in it all is really a 
relief. 

I am so glad that you are pleased with the little 
ones. You be sure, I know, not to let them get in 
the way of infection, if there is still any. 

July 3d. 

* * * Poor Vicky ! She bears her trial [the 
death of her son. Prince Sigismund] bravely, and it 
is a heavy one indeed. This dreadful war is enough 
to break one's heart. Those lives sacrificed for 
nothing — and what will be the end of it all ? All our 
troops are gone now, too, and, what is so unpleasant, 
of course we here don't know where they go to — 
where they are. Letters are fetched by the Feld- 
post, and as they are chiefly not near the railroads — 
at least not Louis — we cannot telegraph. At such a 
moment I know dear Louis fidgets dreadfully for 
news, and I not less. Since he has gone I have 
heard nothing. 



144 FJilNCESS ALICE. 

At length letters from Henry have come. He 
never received until the 29th the telegram his 
parents begged the King to send him on the i8th, 
for the King said he did not know where he was — 
thought he was in Russia! He has been in all the 
engagements, wondering why, as was originally 
arranged, no- order came for him to leave. 

I am so very uncomfortable, and it wants courage 
and patience and hope, under such circumstances, to 
bear all. Of course, anxiety about beloved Louis is 
the chief thing, and longing for news. The Prus- 
sians are collecting a large army near ThiJringen, in 
which direction ours are marching. Probably Uncle 
Ernest ac^ainst ours ! He mioht so well have re- 
mained quiet, and sent his troops to Mayence, as 
was settled. 

For dear Lenchen's wedding-day receive every 
warm and affectionate wish. May God's blessing 
rest on their union ! I am so glad you are pleased 
with the dear children. I have already found that 
likeness in Ella to Affie's picture by Thorburn, but 
she is so like dear Louis. 

July 6th, 

* * * There seems a chance of an armistice. 
I trust it is so, and that peace will ensue. The 
enormous bloodshed on both sides this fortnight is 
too awful to think of. Poor Austria ! it is hard for 
her. But as she is said to be ready to cede Venice, 
then, at least, the Italian war will be at an end. 

Surely the neutral Powers will try and prevent 
Austria and Prussia beginning again ; it is too 
horrid ! 

The rest of Germany now must knock under ; but 
that is better than again shedding so much blood on 
the chance of getting the upper hand. 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. I45 

I have had some Hnes from dear Louis from the 
north of Hesse. He is well ; how I do hope now 
that they won't come to blows. 

How kind of you to give the children frocks for 
the wedding ! Will you kiss the dear little ones from 
me ? I miss them very much. 

[In a letter dated July ii, 1866, Prince Louis an- 
nounces to the Queen the birth of a strong, healthy 
girl, with " dark eyes and brown hair."] 

Darmstadt, July 19th. 

Beloved Mama : — What a time I have passed 
during these eight days since baby's birth ! Firstly, 
I have to thank the Almighty for having preserved 
my own sweet and adored husband, and for the 
blessing of having had him by me, so dear, so 
precious, during my confinement. After three days 
he had to go, and when he got near Aschaffenburg 
found fighting going on. We could hear the guns 
here. The Prussians shot from the roofs of the 
houses ; they fought in the streets ; it must have 
been horrid. Our troops retreated (as had always 
been intended) in perfect order. The wounded were 
brought in here the following day. The 1 3th and 
14th they fought. Louis was there on the 14th ; 
since then I have not seen him — God knows when I 
shall ao-ain. 

The Prussians have taken Frankfort, and they are 
at home here. No communications allowed ; get no 
papers or letters ; may send none ! An existence of 
monstrous anxiety and worry, which it is impossible 
for those to imao^ine who have not lived throug^h it. 

I had a letter from Louis from the Odenwald this 
morning, written yesterday. They expected to pass 



146 PRINCESS ALICE. 

Amorbach to-day. They are trying to meet the 
Bavarians, who are never to be found, 

I long for a letter from you. We have none at 
all. I have had none from you since baby's birth. 
The people, who are such cowards and so silly, fly 
from here in all available droschkies. 

How I pray some end may soon come to this hor- 
rid bloodshed! Ah! the miisery around us you 
can't imagine. Henry has never received his dis- 
charge, and has gone unscathed, in spite of being so 
exposed through all these battles. 

I myself am very well, and I don't give way, 
though the anxiety about Louis leaves me no peace. 

Baby is well and very pretty. The time she came 
at prevented a thought of disappointment at her 
being a girl. Only gratitude to the Almighty filled 
our hearts, that I and the child were well, and that 
dear Louis and I were together at the time. The 
times are hard ; it wants all a Christian's courage and 
patience to carry one through them ; but there is 07ie 
Friend who in the time of need does not forsake 
one, and He is my comfort and support. God bless 
you, my own Mama, and pray for your child, 

Alice. 

Friday, July 27th, 9 o'clock p.m. 

At this moment the messenger has arrived, to 
leave again at five to-morrow morning, A thousand 
thanks for your dear letter, the first I have received 
since baby's birth ! 

To-night (since Sunday no news of Louis) at 
length I have heard that dear Louis is well. 
These last four days they have been fighting again. 
I had a. few lines from him. These last two nights 
he slept in a field, and the country is so poor, that 
they had nothing but a little bread during two days 



A T HOME AND A T WORK. 



H7 



to eat. Now the Prussians, having made peace 
with Austria, and having refused it to us, are advanc- 
ing on our troops from three sides. 
^ I can scarcely write ; this anxiety is kilhng me, 
and my love has been so exposed! All are in ad- 
miration of his personal bravery and tender atten- 
tion to the suffering and want of all around. He 
never thinks of himself, and shares all the dangers 
and privations with the others. 

Louis says they long for peace. He disapproves 
the different Governments for not now giving way 
to Prussia, and begs me to use my influence with 
Uncle Louis 'to accept Prussian conditions to spare 
further bloodshed. 

From all parts of the country the people beg me 
to do what I can. 

The confusion here is awful, the want of money 
alarming ; right and left one must help. As the Prus- 
sians pillaged here, I have many people's things hid- 
den in the house. Even whilst in bed I had to see 
gentlemen in my room, as there were things to be 
done and asked which had to come straight to me. 
Then our poor wounded — the wives and mothers beg- 
ging I should inquire for their husbands and children. 
It is a state of affairs too dreadful to describe. 

The new anxiety to-night of knowing a dreadful 
battle is expected, perhaps going on, in which dear 
Louis again must be ! I can scarcely bear up any 
longer ; I feel it is getting too much. God Almighty 
stand by us ! My courage is beginning to sink. I 
see no light anywhere ; and my own beloved husband 
still in danger, and we cannot hear, for the Prussians 
are between us and them. Any thing may have 
happened to him, and I can't hear it or know it! L 
could not go to him were he wounded. 



148 PRINCESS ALICE. 

What I have suffered and do suffer no words can 
describe — the sleepless nights of anxiety, the long 
days without news — how I pray it may soon end, 
and dear darling Louis be spared me ! 

In these days I have so longed to hear from you. 
It would have been such a comfort, and I longed for 
it much. 

If we live, and peace is restored, the country and 
every thing will be in such a mess, and both of us 
in such want of change, that we must go somewhere ; 
but we shall then, I fear, be next to ruined. You 
can't think what war in one's own country — in a little 
one like this — is ! The want is fearful. I must go 
to bed, as it is late. I am well, so is the litde one ; 
but I can't sleep or eat well all along; and the worry 
of mind and much to do keep me weak. 

Oh, that we were together again ! Good-bye be- 
loved Mama. These next days I fear will be dread- 
ful. May the Almighty watch over dear Louis ! You 
will pray for him, won't you ? 

P. S. — The standard of Louis' cavalry regiment, 
which they did not take with them, and which is 
usually kept at the Schloss, is in my room for safety. 

Forgive the shocking writing, but I am so upset 
to-night, since my messenger of Tuesday returned 
with Louis' letter. 

Darmstadt, August 4th. 

* * * The linen, etc., for the wounded has ar- 
rived, and been so useful ; a thousand thanks for it ! 
Matters here change from one day to another, and I 
hope Louis may soon be able to return with the 
troops. Uncle Louis I do hope and pray will then 
return, and I hope he will regain the favor which he 
had lost, for any change now would be dreadful. 

My father-in-law is really in such a state since 



A T HOME AND AT WORK. 1 49 

these events, and his nerves so shattered, that my 
mother-in-law trembles for him, and tries to keep 
him out of all. He is so angry, so heartbroken at 
the loss of Oberhessen, which is probable, that he 
wishes not to outlive it. My poor mama-in-law 
burst into tears this morning in my room, where this 
scene took place. 

I have just returned from having been to inquire 
after the wounded at the different hospitals and 
houses, which are filling fast as they can be brought 
from Aschaffenburg, Laufach, etc. As soon as I am 
better, I will go to them myself ; but the close and 
crowded wards turn one easily faint. 

Becker saw Louis three days ago, and accompa- 
nied him to Munich for a day. I hear he is well, 
though for six nights he had slept out of doors, and 
the last three nights it had poured incessantly ; and 
all that time — on account of ours not having a truce, 
and expecting to be attacked — they were, being such a 
mass together, without provisions, barely a morsel of 
bread. I am so distressed about poor Anton Hohen- 
zollern and Obernitz ; so many acquaintances and 
friends have fallen on both sides, it is dreadful! 

The town is full of Prussians. I hope they will 
not remain too long, for they pay for nothing, and 
the poor inhabitants suffer so much. There is chol- 
era in the Prussian army, and one soldier lies here 
ill of it. I hope it won't spread. 

August 13th. 

•jv- * * j^ jg fearful. Those who have seen the 
misery war brings with it, near by — the sufferings, 
the horror — know well what a scourge it is. May 
the Almighty spare our poor Germany this new evil! 
I forgot to thank you in Louis' name, as he had told 
me, for your letter, which he found here on his re- 



150 PRINCESS ALICE. 

turn. He is to-day still at Berlin, and we are so 
grateful for your having written to good Fritz. 
What he can do I know he will. 

Uncle Louis is still at Munich, and I don't think he 
will abdicate ; besides, he is at this moment doing 
what his country wishes. 

I received a letter from Julie Battenberg, saying 
what Uncle Alexander had written to her about 
Louis : '' Le Prince Alexandre m ecrit qiiil a obtenu 
du Grand Dtic la demission de Perglas" (who com- 
manded the troops so badly), "^/ la 7iomination dtt 
Prince Lonis en commandement de nos troupes ; il 
me dit a cette occasion que voire Mart pendant cette 
triste campagne s est fait aimer et apprecier de totd le 
monde qitil s est fait 11716 excellente reputation, et 
quit sera regiL a bras ouverts par la troupe!' •^" * * 
It is a large command for one so young, and with so 
little experience — all the more so, as we don't know 
how long peace may last. He is sent to Berlin, as 
the country all look to Louis to prevent new evil ; 
and all this without poor Louis having any direct 
position of heir to be able to enforce his opinion. 
He has no easy life of it. 

The horse you gave Louis he rode in the different 
engagements, and praised him very much. He 
stood the fire quite well, but not the bursting of the 
shells close by. 

About the children, the 23d is quite soon enough 
for their departure. 

We shall not call baby " Irene," unless all seems 
really peaceful, and at this moment it does not look 
promising. I am very sad and dismayed at the 
whole lookout. My mother-in-law was so pleased 
with your letter, and thanks you warmly for it. 



A T HOME AND A T WORK. 1 5 i 

NiERSTEIN, GeLBES HAUS, AugUSt 17th. 

This dear day makes me think so much of you, of 
home, and of those two dear ones whose memories 
are so precious, and who Kve on with us, and make 
me often think that we had parted only yesterday. 

We are so pleased at your saying that you claim 
Louis as your son. He always considers himself 
in particular your child, and if any thing helps to 
stimulate him in doing his duty well, it is the sincere 
wish of being worthy to claim and deserve that title. 
Darling Papa would be proud of him, and pleased 
to see how earnestly he takes his duties, and how 
conscientiously and unselfishly he fulfils them, for he 
has had and still has many trials — things I can tell 
you of when we meet again. 

Life is such a pilgrimage, and so uncertain is its 
duration that all minor troubles are foro-otten 
and easily borne, when one thinks what one must 
live for. 

Before leaving Darmstadt yesterday to come here, 
we went to see some of the wounded asfain. One 
poor man had died since I was last there : he had 
been so patient, and had suffered so much. Another 
had had an operation performed and was very low — 
he was crying like a child. I could scarcely comfort 
him, he held my hand and always moaned out " Es 
brennt so" [It burns so]. Such nice people most 
of those young men are — very young, and for that 
class so well educated. All who are well enough 
are reading. 

I must praise the ventilation and cleanliness in the 
different hospitals ; in these things they have made 
wonderful progress here. 

We are here in Rheinhessen, as Louis has to take 
his command. This place, Nierstein, lies between 



152 PEINCESS ALICE. 

Worms and Mayence, and all our troops are quar- 
tered about here. Louis' staff is at Worms, where 
he himself is to-day, and was already last night. 

He was more hopeful about the prospects for 
Oberhessen on his return from Berlin, and had been 
so kindly received by dear Vicky and Fritz. 

When Louis wrote hig farewell to his cavalry 
brigade (who are so -Sferry to lose him), as a remem- 
brance that he and they had stood in the field to- 
gether for their first campaign, he asked these two 
regiments, officers and men, to stand sponsors to 
baby, as she was born during that time, and they 
are delighted, but wish the child to have one of their 
names ! We wait till the troops can come home to 
christen baby on that account. * * * I don't 
think we shall be here very long. Whenever the 
Prussians leave Darmstadt we can return. 

NiERSTEIN, GeLBES HaUS, AugUSt 2ISt. 

-X- % -K- -^g ^j-g here still, and all our troops, 
and Louis has a threat deal to do. To-morrow the 
armistice is over, and at present we have no news as 
to its prolongation or the settlement of peace ; but 
it must be one or other. A little private war of 
Prussia against us would be absurd and impossible, 
so the troops remain quartered in the little villages 
about here. The country here is so rich and fertile, 
the villages so clean, with such good houses ; but 
the people are blessed with children to an extraordi- 
nary extent ! It is the most richly populated part of 
all Germany, and there are more people on the 
square mile than in England. 

The chano-e of air — though it is but two hours 
from Darmstadt — has done me good, and if later, 
through your great kindness, a little journey should 
be possible to us, it would be very beneficial to both 
of us. 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 1 53 

This house is quite close to the Rhine, and this 
instant our pioneers have come by from Worms on 
their pontoon bridge singing a quartett, about 
twenty or thirty men. It looks so pretty, and they 
sing so beautifully. On their marches the soldiers 
always sing, and they have so many beautiful songs, 
such as : " Dergute Kamerad." The Germans are 
such 2. gemiltklich [simple, kinaiy, sociable] people. 
The more one lives with them, the more one learns 
to appreciate them. It is a fine nation. God grant 
this war, which has produced so many heroes, and 
cost so many gallant lives, may not have been in 
vain, and that at length ,Germany may become a 
mighty, powerful Power! It will then be the first in 
the world, where the great ideas and thoughts come 
from, free from narrow-minded prejudice, and when 
once the Germans have attained political freedom, 
they will be lastingly happy and united. 

But the present state of things is sad, though one 
should not despair of some good resulting from it. 

My letter is quite confused. I beg a thousand 
pardons for it, but 1 have been interrupted so often. 

Gelbes Haus, August- 29th. 
* ■^ ■^ The children arrived well and safe, and 
in such good looks. It was a great pleasure to see 
them again ; and I tried to make Victoria tell me as 
much as possible of dear Grandma and uncles and 
aunts, and when she is not absent-minded she is 
very communicative. How much we thank you, 
darling Mama, for having kept them and been so 
good to them I can't tell you. This change has been 
so good for them ; for now there are both cholera and 
small-pox at Darmstadt, which is still full of Prussian 
soldiers. More have come, and our peace is not 
yet concluded. I hope it is no bad sign, and that 
the hopes of losing less will not disappear. > 



1 54 FHINCESS ALICE. ■ 

We were only in Darmstadt for the day when the 
children arrived, and we go there for a few hours to- 
morrow on business. Louis has a great deal to do, 
and all the military things are in his hands. 

I am not feeling very well. The air here after a 
few days is relaxing, and I begin to feel more what 
a strain there has been on my nerves during this 
time. I have such a pain in my side again. Moun- 
tain air Weber wants me to have, and quiet, away 
from all bothers ; but I fear that is impossible 7iow, 
on account of Louis not beinof able to leave — and 
then financially. 

I have some HeUnweh [home-sicknefes] after dear 
England, Balmoral, and all at home, I own, though 
the joy of being near dear Louis again is so great ! 
But life is meant for work, and not for pleasure, and 
I learn more and more to be grateful and content 
with that which the Almighty- sends me, and to find 
the sunshine in spite of the clouds ; for when one 
has one's beloved, adored husband by one's side, 
what is there in the world that is too heavy to bear? 
My own darling Mama, when I think of darling Papa 
and of you, and that he is not visible at your side' 
now, I long to clasp you to my heart, in some way 
to cheer the loneliness which is a poor widow's lot. 
Oh, none in the world is harder than that ! 

Darmstadt, August 31st. 
-X- 'X- * Xhank you for telling me how you 
spent that dear day ; it must have been peaceful and 
solemn, the beautiful country harmonizing well with 
the thoughts of that great and beautiful soul which 
ever lives on with us. He remains nearer and nearer 
to me, and the recollection of many things dear Papa 
told me is a help and a stay in my actions, particu- 
larly of late. The separation seems so short. I can 



A T HOME AND A T WORK. I 5 5 

see him and hear him Speak SO plainly. Alas! my 
children have never seen him. Through you, dar- 
ling Mama, and in your rooms, and at your side, they 
must learn to know him, that they may become 
worthy of their descent. 

Yesterday we saw the children. Victoria is not 
quite well, but Ella is well, and won't leave me 
when I come into the room ; she keeps kissing me 
and putting her fat arms round my neck. There is 
each time a scene when I go away. She is so af- 
fectionate : so is dear Victoria. I send you a photo- 
graph of our smallest, who is such a pretty child, and 
very good. 

The peace is not concluded yet ; more Prussians 
have been quartered in and around Darmstadt. The 
people are very angry atthis lasting so long "" '"'■ * 
They believe it is Strafeinqimidieruiig [done to pun- 
ish us]. Nothing is settled as to what we keep or 
lose, and we know and hear nothing. Waiting here, 
uncomfortably lodged, the troops impatient to go 
home, as they have nothing to do, gets very irk- 
some. 

Gelbes Haus, September 8th. 

* * ■^ At last the peace is concluded, though 
not yet ratified. The terms are not so bad. We 
lose the Hinterland and the Domains there, as also 
the whole of Hesse-Homburg — in all sixty-four 
thousand souls — pay three millions contribution, be- 
sides having kept a large part of the Prussian army 
six weeks for nothing, which cost the country twenty- 
five thousand florins daily. For Oberhessen we go 
into the North-German Bund, and half the army is 
under Prussian command, which will make a dread- 
ful confusion. Louis would prefer having it for the 
whole, particularly in anticipation, alas ! of a coming 
war. 



156 PRINCESS ALICE. 

The railroads, posts, and telegraphs also become 
Prussian ; and they demand, besides, some fine old 
pictures, books, and manuscripts, which had once be- 
longed to the Kolner Dom, and were made a present 
of to this country years ago ; and for our Domains 
no Entschcldigtmg [compensation]. In exchange for 
Homburg we get some small places — amongst others, 
Rumpenheim. 

When the peace is ratified and the money paid, 
the Prussians leave the country, which must now be 
very shortly. Until then Louis must stop here, and 
as he can only get leave now and' then to go to 
Darmstadt, and that always uncertain, baby's chris- 
tening is still impossible, as Louis must be there. 
She will be called " Irene Louise Marie Anna." 

Gelbes Haus, September nth. 

* * * Tired of constantly putting off and 
waiting, we settled yesterday to have baby christ- 
ened to-morrow, as it is Louis' birthday, and to go 
for the day to Darmstadt. Though the Prussians 
are still there, some of the godfathers are cominof 
over ; otherwise it will be quite quiet. 

* * * How true and sad is what you say, 
dear Mama, about life and its trials ! Alas ! that it 
should be you, dear, loving, kind Mama, who have 
had to drink so deeply of that cup of bitterness. 
Those who possess all they love, as I do, can, how- 
ever, feel all the more keenly, and sympathize more 
truly with you for what you have lost, though it is a 
grief we do not know. How I do long always to 
alleviate this grief for you, dearest Mama ; but 
that is the world's trial. None can bear the burden 
for you. One must carry it one's self ; and it wants 
patience and courage to bear such as yours, dear 
Mama. I feel for you now more than ever since 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. I 57 

during that month I feared from day to day my 
happy Hfe might be brought to a violent close, and 
anticipated all the misery that inight come, but 
which the Almighty graciously averted. 

Darmstadt, September i6th. 

* * * That you sent Louis, besides the pretty 
souvenir, the money for something in the house is 
really so kind. Our whole dining-room we consider 
your present, and it is furnished as like an English 
one as possible. 

The name Irene,* through other associations, is 
one my parents-in-law and we like ; it stands, be- 
sides, as a sort of recollection of the peace so longed 
for, and which I so gladly welcomed. It will always 
reminds us of the time, and of how much we have 
to be grateful for. 

Darmstadt, September 24th. 

* * * We are settled here again ; our troops 
have returned and Uncle Louis likewise. The for- 
mer were received most warmly by the inhabitants 
and showered with nosegays^ — Louis also, who rode 
at their head. We saw them all in front of the 
Schloss, and it was sad to see the thinned ranks and 
to miss the absent faces we knew so well. On the 
13th and 14th of July, at Frohnhofen, Laufach, and 
Aschaffenburg, out of 8,000 we lost 800 men and 1 1 
officers, and of the officers just those who were very 
intimate with the Prussians, and who wished Ger- 
many to be united under Prussia. 

This afternoon we are going to see after the poor 
wounded, some of whom are still very ill with such 
horrible wounds. So much suffering and pain and 

* The Princess Charles had a sister, who died when a child, who had 
borne that name. 



158 PRINCESS ALICE. 

grief to those poor people, who are innocent in this 
unhappy war ! 

If only now the other sovereigns will forget their 
antipathies and the wrongs they have suffered from 
Prussia, and think of the real welfare of their people 
and the universal fatherland, and make those sacri- 
fices which will be necessary to prevent the recur- 
rence of these misfortunes ! 

The poor Homburgers marched by with our 
troops, and their tears and ours fell as we saw them 
(who had fought so bravely under Uncle Louis) for 
the last time before they become Prussians, and re- 
turn to their homes as such. 

My parents-in-law are gone to Switzerland. 
Henry is become Colonel of the 2d Guard of 
Uhlans at Berlin. 

October ist. 

* "' "' I can but write a few lines, as we are 
going with the children to Uncle Alexander to Jug- 
enheim for a few days. The change of air is wanted 
for Ella, who is still pale ; and Irene has never had 
any change yet, and is also rather pale. 

We were at Frohnhofen and Laufach a few days 
ago to see where the unfortunate engagement was, 
and visited the graves of our soldiers. In the middle 
of a field there is a mound, below which some eighty 
men and some officers lie, and so on. It makes 
a very sad impression, for as our troops retreated, 
and they were buried by the people, none know 
which of the common soldiers or even which of the 
officers lie in the different places. We found some 
balls, and thinofs the soldiers had thrown off durinof 
the fight. In one grave in the churchyard, the 
wounded who died afterward are buried. I asked 
who lay there, and the gravedigger answered ''Bin 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 1 59 

Preuss ' unci ein Hess liegen dort beisammen " 
[" A Prussian and a Hessian lie there together "], 
united in death, and fallen by each other's hand, per- 
haps. Some of the officers who accompanied us, 
and had not been there since the eng-agement, were 
much overcome on seeing the graves of their com- 
rades. I put wreaths and flowers on them, and or- 
dered crosses where we knew who lay there. 

The wounded here are recovering, and I go often 
to see after them. 

As you say, this large Prussia is by no means an 
united Germany ; but, nevertheless, I think the duty 
of the other German sovereigns, in spite of all, is to 
unite with Prussia and place themselves under her, 
so as to make her unite with Germany. Otherwise, 
the next opportunity, they will be annexed. 

Heiligenburg, Jugenheim, October 7th. 

* '^ * We return to town to-day, leaving the 
children for another week, as the air on the hill is so 
delicious. Louis has so much to do that he can't 
remain away longer, though he went at half-past 
seven every morning to his office, returning for 
luncheon. 

Darmstadt, October 22d. 
On Thursday we are going to Waldleiningen for 
a fortnight and take Victoria with us. The two 
little girls knew your photograph at once, and began, 
of course, to talk of you and of England. 

Waldleiningen, October 31st. 

* * * It Is quite beautiful here. We found 
dear Ernest, Marie and children well ; the former so 
kind and dear, as they always are. Victoria and 
Alberta get on tolerably together. The little boy is 
splendid, so strong and fat. 



l6o PJilNCESS ALICE. 

The Castle is so fine and lies just in the midst of 
mountains and woods, and there are walks without 
end — many of them reminding me so much of Scot- 
land. 

The Nichels came to see us, and Marie and I 
played with Nichel * ; it reminded me so much of 
the g-ood old times to see him. 

Ella's birthday is to be kept when we return. 
She is too small to know the difference of the day. 
I thank you beforehand for the locket for her with 
dear Papa's picture. The children always speak of 
their two Grandpapas — dear Grandpapa in Heaven, 
and dear Grandpapa in Darmstadt. Victoria, hear- 
ing Papa so often mentioned, and seeing his pic- 
tures about everywhere, asks no end of questions 
about him. 

Darmstadt, November 14th. 

I am better, thank you, but I am so weak without 
the least reason, and dreadfully chilly. Still, I go 
out regularly in all weathers and take exercise, but 
of an evening I am quite knocked up. 

We always breakfast at half past eight, as Louis 
gets up early and prefers it ; so that I lead a very 
healthy life, and in spite of that am not well. A 
change quite into another climate, for a few months 
was what I really required; but it was impossible. 
On that account, dear Mama, I shall hope to have a 
full three months in England when we come, and per- 
haps part of the time with Bertie, if he can have us. 
I went through a great deal this summer during my 
confinement. The excitement and the will to keep 
v/ell kept me so at the time, but I feel it now, alas! 
and show it, too, for I am getting so thin again. 

* Formerly one of the Royal Band in England. Madame Nichel had 
been a dresser of the Duchess of Kent's, 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. \6l 

Darmstadt, November 21st. 

Dear Vicky's birthday. She will think how happily 
she passed it at Windsor last year, and, though she 
has another child, it cannot replace to her what the 
other one was. 

How glad I am to hear you praise dear Alix ! 
She is so good, tadvoll [full of tact] and true. I 
love her very much. 

I had the pleasure of seeing dear Countess Bliicher 
for a few hours here last Sunday. She came during a 
dreadful snowstorm. The young King of Bavaria is 
coming here for the day to-morrow. * * * 

The large pictures from Homburg — George III., 
Queen Charlotte, George IV., William IV., and the 
Duke of York j:n pied — Uncle Louis has given us, 
and now that I have given these good people, whom 
I don't like, the best places in our rooms, I should so 
much like you and dear Papa, which you promised 
me some years ago from the last Winterhalters, or 
from those in the garter dress. 

I look forward so much to seeing dear Bertie here, 
if only for a few hours. I suppose Monday or Sun- 
day, if he travels day and night, as he leaves on 
Friday ; it is a very long and cold journey. 

November 22d. 

A thousand thanks for the precious book,'"" and for 
your dear lines. The former I have nearly finished. 
I got it yesterday morning, and you can well imagine 
that every spare moment was devoted to its study. 

I think it very well done, and I am only sorry 
that General Grey cannot continue it, as the other 
persons, I believe, did not know dear Papa. The 
longer I live, the more I see and know of the world, 
the deeper my tender admiration grows for such a 

* "The Early Years of the Prince Consort," by the late General Grey. 



l62 FJilNCESS ALICE. 

father. It makes me feel myself so small, so imper- 
fect, when I think that I am his child, and am still so 
unworthy of being it. How many people here who 
like to hear of dear Papa, ask me about him, and you 
can understand with what pride and love I talk of 
him, and tell them things which make them all share 
our sorrow at not having hi-m here any more ! But 
if ever a life has outlived a man, dear Papa's has 
done so. In my thoughts and aims he ever remains 
the centre and the guiding star. Dear beloved Papa, 
he never half knew, how much, even when a foolish 
child, I loved and adored him. His great life will be 
a model for many and many for generations to come, 
and his great thoughts and aims can leave none idle 
who knew them. 

You kindly ask how I am. Better, thank you, 
since I have begun some bark — quinine I can't take, 
or else I should have been well sooner. 

Victoria I am teaching to read — in playing with 
cards with different letters on them. 

November 30th. 

To-day it is six whole years since we were en- 
o-aeed to each other in the Red Drawinp--room at 
Windsor, when we in dear Papa s little room after- 
ward received your and dear Papa's sanction to it. 
And the following year — how sad that already was, 
for darling Papa was beginning to be unwell. How 
constantly do I think of you, beloved Mama, during 
that fortnight of anxiety and sorrow ! God merci- 
fully spare you to us, though for yourself it was the 
commencement of the sad and lonely existence you 
lead without dear Papa. 

I am sure it is' good for little Henry * to be this 

* Son of the Crown Prince and Princess of Prussia. 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 1 63 

winter with you in England : the Berhn dimate is 
very unwholesome. Health is such a blessing. If 
one has children, the first wish is they should be 
healthy, for ill health influences all, and nothing 
more than temper. 

We intend, if possible, going for a day or two to 
Carlsruhe. Poor Louise and Fritz went throusfh so 
much that is painful this summer. * * '^■■ 

I read an immense deal now of serious, and what 
some call dry, books ; but it is a great resource to 
me, and the thought of standing still, if one does not 
study, urges me on. The long winter evenings we 
always spend together, and twice in the week re- 
ceive in the evening, when I play on the piano duets 
with such as play on the violin, and pass the even- 
ings very pleasantly. 

Carlsruhe, December 6th. 

Thousand thanks for your dear letter ! I congrat- 
ulate you on all having gone off so well at Wolver- 
hampton,* and am very grateful for the account. 
Dear Bertie's visit is over, and it has been a very 
great pleasure to us to have seen him again, and to 
have him under our own roof — where we at length 
had an opportunity, in a small way, to return his 
hospitality and constant kindness to us. God bless 
him, dear brother ! he is the one who has from my 
childhood been so dear to me. 

We have come here, and I think it has pleased 
good Fritz. Louis seems very well. I saw Lady 
Fanny Baillie yesterday, looking dear and pretty as 
ever. It is a pleasure to look at her sweet face. 

Carlsruhe, December nth. 
As every year during these days my thoughts are 

* The uncovering of the monument to the Prince Consort. 



164 FJilNCESS ALICE. 

with you, and as each year brings round again the 
anniversary of that dreadful misfortune, it seems 
more and more impossible that five years should al- 
ready have elapsed, since he whom we all loved so 
tenderly was taken from our sight. How I thank 
the Almighty again and again, as this season returns, 
that He spared you to us, when at such a moment, 
we trembled for your precious life, fearing that two 
so united in life even in death could not be parted. 
What should we poor children, what would the 
country have done, had that second misfortune come 
over us ! Yet it seemed selfish and unkind to wish 
for your loving wife's heart the solitary widow's ex- 
istence. How bravely and nobly you have borne it ! 

We leave this to-morrow morning, and have 
spent pleasant days here. There was much to talk 
about together, and Fritz is so excellent and so wise, 
that I am always glad to hear him. Dear Louise is 
well and in good looks, and most kind. 

Now I must end beloved Mama. God bless you 
and comfort you, and in these days let sometimes 
the thought of your absent child, who was at your 
side during that dreadful time, mingle with the recol- 
lection of the past ! 

Darmstadt, December 14th. 

Beloved, precious Mama : — On awaking this 
morning, my first thoughts were of you and of dear, 
darling Papa ! Oh, how it reopens the wounds 
scarcely healed, when this day of pain and anguish 
returns ! This season of the year the leafless 
trees, the cold light, every thing reminds me of that 
time ! 

Thousand thanks for your dear letter received 
yesterday. Well, only too zvell, do I remember every 
hour, almost every minute, of those days, and I have 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. , 1 65 

such an inexpressible longing to throw my arms 
round your neck, and to let my tears flow with 
yours, while kneeling at that beautiful grave. 

The tender love and the deep sorrow caused by His 
loss remain ever with me, and will accompany me 
through life. At the age I then was, with its sensi- 
tive feelings, it made an impression which, I think, 
nothing can efface — above all, the witnessing your 
grief Happily married as I am, and v/ith such a 
good, excellent, and loving husband, how far more 
can I understand now the depth of that grief which 
tore your lives asunder ! I played our dear Papa's 
organ under his beloved picture this morning, and 
my heart and my thoughts were in dear England 
with you all. 

We found our children well on our return, and 
Irene prospers perfectly on her donkey's milk. 

My mother-in-law is so much pleased with the 
book,* and it has interested her very much. She 
came to see me early this morning on account of its 
being the 14th. She is always so kind and full of 
attentions. 

Darmstadt, December 17th, 
How dear of you to have written to me on the 
14th ; thousand thanks for your letter ! How much 
I thought of all on that day you can imagine ; also 
what good it did me to know that you still thought 
of me so kindly with those recollections. I am so 
sorry to hear that you are so suffering. I hope Os- 
borne will do you good, and that rest and quiet will 
refresh you. 

Darmstadt, December 21st. 
* * ■^■" I hope by this time that you are quite 
recovered, though this mild damp weather is not 

* General Grey's " Early Years of the Prince Consort." 



1 66 PRINCESS ALICE. 

made to give one strength. I feel it so much also, 
and am really only kept alive by steel, for off and on 
I am so weak that I nearly faint if I have to stand 
any time, and this is so unpleasant. 

* '"^ * I am trying to found what is no small 
undertaking : a " Frauen- VereiJi," to be spread all 
over the land in different committees, the central 
one being here under my direction, for the purpose 
of assistino- the International Convention for nursino- 
and supporting the troops in time of war, which was 
founded at Geneva, and to which this country also 
belongs. The duty in time of peace will be to have 
nurses brought up and educated for the task, who 
can then assist in other hospitals or amongst the 
poor, or to nurse the rich, wherever they may be 
required in time of war. This committee of women 
has to collect all the necessary things for the wounded 
and for the marching troops, has to see to their 
being sent to right places, etc. 

All these things were done by private people in 
this war, and, though quantities of things were sent, 
the whole plan was not organized, so that there was 
want and surplus at the same time. 

In time of peace these things should be organized, 
so that, when war comes, people know where to 
send their things to, and that no volunteer nurses go 
out who have not first learnt their business. 

The same thing exists in Baden, in Bavaria, and In 
Prussia, and here it is much wanted. But all these 
undertakings are difficult, particularly in the choice 
of persons to assist one. Still I hope I shall be able 
to do it. My mother-in-law helps me, and I hope 
before long to be able to begin. 

The Elector is coming here on a visit to-day, and 
Uncle Alexander returned from Petersburg last 
night. 



AT HOME A AW AT WORIC. 1 6/ 

Darmstadt, December 25th. 

* * * I have a dreadful cold, and am not 
very well besides, so I can but scribble a few lines. 
To-day we go to the Bescheerimg [distribution of 
Christmas gifts] to the wounded in three hospitals. 
Of course it will be very hot. 

Henry is here for a few days. He looks so hand- 
some in his new uniform with his dark beard. He 
has grown so good-looking these last few years, and 
he is so excellent. I am very fond of him. He is 
likewise so much gayer than formerly. 

The good eatables you sent will be given to-night, 
when Louis' parents and brothers come to us for 
dinner. 

The children have a party for their tree. 

Darmstadt, December 30th, 

* * * May the Almighty give you every 
blessing of peace and comfort which the world can 
still give you, till you gain that greater blessing and 
reward above all others, which is reserved for such 
as my own sweet mother ! May every blessing fall 
on my old dear home, with all its dear ones ! May 
peace, and the glory which peace and order bring 
with it, with its many blessings, protect my native 
land ; and may, in the new year, your wise and glo- 
rious reign, so overshadowed by dear Papa's spirit, 
continue to prosper and be a model and an ornament 
to the world ! 

This year of pain and anxiety, and yet for us 
so rich in blessings, draws to a close. It moves me 
more than ever as its last day approaches. For how 
much have we not to thank the Almighty — for my 
life, which is so unworthy compared to many others, 
the new life of this little one, and above all the pres- 
ervation of my own dear husband, who is my all in 
this life. 



1 68 PJilNCESS ALICE. 

The trials of this year must have brought some 
good with all the evil : good to the individual 
and good to the multitude. God grant that we may 
all profit by what we have learnt, and gain mxore and 
more that trust in God's justice and love, which 
is our guide and support in trouble and in joy! Oh, 
more than ever have I felt in this year, that God's 
goodness and love are indeed beyond compre- 
hension ! 

■^ * * I am really glad to hear that you 
can listen to a little music. Music is such a heavenly 
thing, and dear Papa loved it so much, that I can't 
but think that now it must be soothing, and bring 
you near to him. * * * 



1867. 

The experiences of the late war had shown the 
necessity for an efficient and widespread organiza- 
tion for aid to the sick and wounded on the battle- 
field. Already in i865 a society had been formed 
in Hesse, with Prince and Princess Charles as its 
patrons, in accordance with the resolutions passed at 
the Geneva Convention in 1863, and had done good 
work in the last war. The nursing of the wounded 
had hitherto been undertaken by " Deaconesses," 
Sisters of Mercy, and orders of a kindred nature. 

After the close of the war, those at the head of 
the committee (or Society) made themselves respon- 
sible, so far as lay in their power, for the wounded 
and disabled, and for the families of those who had 
fallen in the war. It was, however, felt to be very 



AT HOME AND AT WORK, 1 69 

desirable that other committees should be formed 
throughout the country for the purpose of training 
specially-qualified nurses. 

The Princess was deeply interested in this ques- 
tion — indeed, her whole attention had been directed 
to it since the beginning of the war, after she had 
seen what was done in Baden under the direction of 
the Grand Duchess. She had also before her the 
example of Florence Nightingale, and the good she 
had done during and after the Crimean war. The 
Princess was naturally fond of nursing, and of all 
that had to do with it, and she therefore eagerly 
took up the idea of founding a Frauen-Verein, or 
" Ladies' Union " — an idea which, under her au- 
spices, was soon most successfully carried out. 

She wished lay women and ladies of all classes to 
join in this undertaking, so that the nursing should 
not be confined, as heretofore, to religious orders 
only. After much consultation a committee was 
formed in 1867, consisting of six ladies and four 
doctors, with the Princess as President. The central 
committee of the " Ladies' Union " was to be at 
Darmstadt, under the Princess' direction. The 
other committees spread over the whole country. 
Its object was to assist " the nursing and supporting 
of the troops in times of war," and in times of peace 
to " train nurses, to assist other hospitals, or amongst 
the poor, or to nurse the rich " — in fact, to help 
wherever help was required. In 1868 the members 
belonging to the " Ladies' Union " had greatly in- 



170 PRINCESS ALICE, 

creased, and In 1869 they reached the number of 
2,5oo. 

The duties of the local committees consisted in 
collecting money and all necessary materials for the 
wounded or for the troops on the march. The cen- 
tral committee did its best in times of peace to direct 
the general attention to this most important question 
by lectures on the subject, delivered by medical men. 

At the time the Princess started this undertaking 
she was also much occupied with another all-engross- 
ing subject — viz.: the improvement of the condition 
of poor unmarried women and girls, as well as the 
education of eii'ls in general. The Princess found an 
able assistant in Fraulein Louise Biichner — a most 
distinguished authoress, and the champion of 
women's rights, more particularly of the higher edu- 
cation of women. 

With her help the Princess formed another com- 
mittee for the encouragement of" Female Industry." 
A permanent Bazaar was established on the 2 5th of 
November, 1867, called after the Princess, "The 
Alice Bazaar," for the purpose of receiving and dis- 
posing of articles of needlework at their proper value, 
and also for obtaining employment for women of all 
classes. The " Bazaar " soon became a flourishing 
institution. 

At the beginning of the year 1867 the Prince and 
Princess went to Gotha, where they met the Crown 
Prince and Princess of Prussia for the first time since 
the war. They then went for a few weeks to Berlin. 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. I7I 

After the threatening rumors of war caused by the 
Luxembourg question had been dispersed, the Em- 
peror Napoleon invited all the Sovereigns and 
Princes of Europe to visit the great International 
Exhibition at Paris. Prince and Princess Louis, 
amongst others, accepted the invitation, and were at 
Paris at the same time as the Emperor of Russia, the 
King of Prussia, and the Crown Prince and Princess 
of Prussia. The Prince and Princess visited many 
other places of interest and note at Paris besides the 
(jreat Exhibition. All institutions for art had a ^reat 
attraction for her, and she took up the idea most 
warmly of founding Schools of Design in her own 
country, as she hoped they would exercise a good 
influence there. 

During the Prince and Princess' visit the great 
review of the Imperial troops in theBois de Boulogne 
took place ; and on that day, too, the happily unsuc- 
cessful attempt on the Emperor of Russia's life was 
made. 

After attending all the festivities at the Imperial 
Court, where the Prince and Princess received every 
possible attention and kindness from the Emperor 
and Empress, they left Paris on the loth of June, 
and, having met their children at Calais, crossed 
over to England. During this stay in England the 
Princess visited the German and many other Hos- 
pitals, and she also assisted in doing the honors for 
the Queen at several Court festivities. She was 
present at Windsor and Osborne during the visits of 



172 PRINCESS ALICE. 

the Sultan, who had been so cordially received in 
England, and in whose honor a great naval review 
at Spithead was held. 

Prince and Princess Louis returned to Darmstadt 
in the first days of August ; and, having established 
their children there, they left for St. Moritz in the 
Engadine, where they intended to spend a month, 
and where the Princess was to take the baths. 

Whilst there they made several excursions, travel- 
ling about quite simply, like any other tourists. 

On their return to Germany, the Prince and 
Princess spent a few days with the Grand Duke and 
Grand Duchess of Baden on the island of Mainau on 
the Lake of Constance. Durino- the autumn the 
Princess met several of her own brothers and sisters. 
She also went to Cassel to meet the Crown Prince 
and Princess of Prussia, who were returning from a 
visit to England. 

GOTHA, January 15th, 

* * * It is a great happiness to be with dear 
Vicky and Fritz, and the future — that which is to be 
feared, that which must inevitably come — is of course 
our constant talk. Whatever comes, our position, 
and that of other small sovereigns, must undergo a 
change, which for the older ones will be very hard, 
and which they will ever feel. Even dear Louis, 
who is so sensible and reasonable, says he has been 
brought up with particular rights, which for centuries 
have been ours, and he feels sore that he is never to 
inherit them. 

Dear aunt seems very well, and is ever like a 
second mother to us, so loving and kind ; also dear 



AT HOME AND AT WORK, 1 73 

uncle. Papa's and your children are dear to him 
almost as though they were his own ; and he lives to 
see us with our families and in our homes, whereas 
darling Papa does not. Yesterday the BratU von 
Messina was given — that beautiful piece which Papa 
was so fond of. I thought so much of you. 

On Thursday Vicky and Fritz go to Berlin. We 
remain here until Sunday afternoon, as on Sunday 
is the Ordensfest ; and as many will be decorated 
who fought against us, Louis thought it better to ar- 
rive after the ceremony. Hermann is here still. He 
has been to see Feo,'^'' who has been very ill. Fritz 
William [the Crown Prince] saw Ada and Fritz Hol- 
stein at Carlsruhe, and Fritz and Anna of Hesse — all 
four turned out of their countries. * * * 

I am delighted to hear of dear Arthur having 
passed so good an examination. How proud you 
must be of him ! And the good Major, f who has 
spared no pains, I know — how pleased he must be! 
Arthur has a uniform now, I suppose. 

Berlin, January 26th. 

* * * We remain here a little longer, proba- 
bly until the following Saturday, as the King, owing 
to his cold, could not see us often, and begged us to 
remain longer. 

I saw Amahe Lauchert \ here two days ago, look- 
ing so well, and charming as ever. 

Little Vicky is such a darling, very like her poor 

* Princess Feodore Victoria Adelaide Paulina Amelia Maria, daughter of 
Queen Victoria's sister, the Princess Hohenlohe-Langenburg, and wife of 
the Hereditary Prince, now the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. She died at the 
age of thirty-three, on the loth of February, 1872. 

f Major Elphinstone, Prince Arthur's Governor from 1859, now Sir 
Howard Elphinstone, K.C.B. 

\ Princess Amalie of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfiirst, niece of Queen Vic- 
toria's late brother-in-law, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, married to an 
artist, Herr Lauchert. 



174 PRINCESS ALICE. 

little brother — so merry, so good, one never hears 
her cry — and it is really a comfort to Vicky to have 
that dear little thing. Poor Vicky is very sad and 
low at times. 

After intense cold it is quite warm, like spring, 
which is very unwholesome and tiring. 

Darmstadt, February i6th. 

* -X'' * I think I can understand what you must 
feel. I know well what those first three years were 
— what fearful suffering, tearing and uprooting those 
feelings which had been' centred in beloved Papa's 
existence! It is indeed, as you say "in mercy," 
that after the long storm a lull and calm ensues, 
though the violent pain, which is but the reverse 
side of the violent love, seems only to die out with 
it, and that is likewise bitter. Yet, beloved Mama, 
could it be otherwise ? There would be no justice 
or mercy, were the first stage of sorrow to be the 
perpetual one ; and God grant, that time may still 
soothe and alleviate that which it cannot change ! I 
can only imagine what the loss must be, if I measure 
it by the possession of that one adored being, who is 
the centre and essence of my existence. 

Darmstadt, February 28th. 

* ■^- * Yesterday we had a very interesting 
lecture in our house about Art in Venice, by a 
young Swede [Herr von Molin], who has been 
studying three years in Italy. We had the room 
full of people, artists, and professors, who liked to 
listen. 

* * * All the natural cleverness and sharp- 
ness in the world won't serve nowadays, unless one 
has learnt something. I feel this so much ; and 
just in our position it is more and more required 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 1 75 

and expected, particularly in a small place, where so 
much depends on the personal knowledge and ex- 
ertions of the Princes. 

Darmstadt, March 8th. 

* * * The knowledge of dear sweet Alix's 
state makes me too sad. It is hard for them both, 
and the nursing must be very fatiguing for Mrs. 
Clarke. I am so distressed about darling Alix that 
I really have no peace. It may, and probably will, 
last long, which is so dreadful.* 

March 28th. 

* ->j ^- \Ye mean to have some children on the 
5th, so that Victoria can have a party. 

My father-in-law is better again, I am happy to 
say. The warm weather did him good at once. 

Darmstadt, April ist. 

* ''^ * I could not write the other day, as I 
had a good deal to do with two committees for 
charities, which had to be got into order, and which 
took up a great deal of my time. 

Cold, hail, snow, "and rain, have returned ; and 
Irene has got a cold, which most people here have. 
The weather is so unpleasant. 

We shall stop here in town until we go to Eng- 
land, as we have nowhere to go to before. It is a 
pity for the children to have no country air, and 
they miss the flowers in their walks. I can't praise 
Orchard f enough. Such order she keeps, and is so 
industrious and tidy, besides understanding so much 
about the management of the children's health and 
characters. 

* The Princess of Wales was suffering at the time from rheumatic fever 
and rheumatism. 

f Their nurse, who is still (1884) with the youngest child, Princess Alix, 



176 PRINCESS ALICE. 

Darmstadt, April 5th. 

Thousand thanks for your dear letter, and for the 
kind wishes for Victoria's birthday ! I pray she may 
be a worthy granddaughter and goddaughter of my 
darling Mamma ! I shall never forget that day — 
your kindness to us, and the tender nurse you 
were. "^* ^'' * 

Victoria means to dictate a letter to you ; she is 
so much pleased with her presents. Irene has not a 
tooth yet, and is not very fat, poor little thing ! but 
she is fresh and rosy, and, I think, strong. 

This last week the excitement here has been 
dreadful, as all anticipated a war with France on 
account of Luxembourg. I fear sooner or later it will 
come. May the Almighty avert such a calamity ! 

The Moriers were quite in ecstasies about your 
handsome present. The christening'"^ went off 
very well. 

April 8th, 

* «■ -X- "YVe have just returned from church, 
and to-morrow morning we all take the Sacrament 
at nine o'clock in the Schlosskirche. Professor 
Jowett is here on a visit to the Moriers, and is going 
to read the service on Sunday. I have not had an 
opportunity to attend our English service since we 
were at Windsor, excepting one Sunday at Berlin 
with Vicky and Fritz. 

People think now, the evil of war is put off for a 
few weeks, but that is all. Henry is here for Easter, 
and says the same from all he heard at Berlin. 

April 2ist. 

* * * How I wish you may be right in not 
believing in war. I always fear it is not Luxem- 

* Of their child, to whom Queen Victoria stood sponsor. 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 1 77 

bourg, but the intense jealousy of the French nation, 
that they should not be the first on the Continent, 
and that Germany is becoming independent and 
powerful against their will. Then, again, the Ger- 
mans feel their new position, and assert their rights 
with more force because unanimous, and neither na- 
tion will choose to orive in to the other. 

The war would be totally useless, and sow no end 
of dissension and hatred between the two neighbor 
countries, who, for their own good as for that of man- 
kind, ought to live in peace and harmony with each 
other. 

We seem driftino- back to the Middle Ao^es, as 
each question is pushed to the point of the sword. 
It is most sad. How dear Papa would have disap- 
proved of much that has happened since 1862 ! 

Is the Catalogue which Mr. Ruland sent some 
time ago to Mr. Woodward for dear Papa's Raphael 
Collection in print now ? * So many people know 
of its coming out, and are anxious to see it, as, in- 
deed, I am likewise, for it is the only complete col- 
lection in the world, and the world of art is anxious 
to know all about it. Will you, perhaps, let me 
know through Mr. Sahl,*|- as I believe it is already a 
good while since you approved of its being pub- 
lished, and gave the orders for its being printed ? 

May 2d. 

As yet none dare to be sure of the peace, but all 
live ao-ain since there are more chances for its beinof 
maintained. But, then, I trust it will be a perma- 
nent peace, not merely a putting off till next year ! 

The French press was so very warlike, and it al- 
ways talks of the French honor not being able to 

* This Catalogue was not completed and made public till 1876. 
\ Her Majesty's private librarian. 



1/8 FJ^IIVCESS ALICE. 

allow such a mighty empire as the German is be- 
coming to gain the upper hand; and then rectifica- 
tion of her frontiers, always wishing for the Rhine. 

Poor little Anna of Mecklenburg is here ; it 
seemed so sad to see the dear little child come alone 
to inhabit the rooms its Mama had never returned 
to. She looks delicate, very fair, but with dark, 
thick eyebrows and eyelashes ; rather shy and silent 
for she has no little children to play with in her 
home. My two led her about at once, and tried to 
amuse her. Ella, who is five months older, is a 
head taller and twice as broad. I am so afraid they 
will be too rough with her, for dear, fat Ella is very 
strong, and by no means gentle. 

Annchen has an old nervous nurse, who is too 
frightened about her. It is a great responsibility, 
where there is no mother. It looks so sad ! 

May 13th, 
I must tell you something in confidence of what 
has taken place here with regard to Louis. ^'' * '^ 
Since Louis took the command last August, and 
since the Convention with Prussia has been settled, 
Louis has been opposed by Uncle Louis and the 
Kriegsministerumi [War Department"], in doing all 
the things which he thought absolutely necessary, 
and which toward Prussia the Grand Duke had 
promised to do, so as to get the troops into the 
necessary order and organization. Here the Gov- 
ernment is, Louis has reason to fear, once more play- 
ing a false game toward Prussia, and all his true 
friends and a small party of the clever-thinking 
people have encouraged him in the idea that to 
serve his country, he may and must not be impli- 
cated in the present sad and desperate state of 
affairs. 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 1 79 

It has cost him a great struggle to make up his 
mind to ask Uncle Louis to accept his resignation, 
which he has been obliged to demand, as he felt that 
under present circumstances he could not fulfil, what 
was desired of him. 

Uncle Louis may refuse to let him go ; then he 
intends to ask for leave until the ist of October, the 
date when the Convention must be carried out, when 
he hopes and trusts the King will send a Prussian 
general to put all in order. 

Uncle Louis and his Umgebung [the people about 
him] will all be against my Louis, as they think it a 
shame and injustice to give up any of their rights, 
and that it is unpardonable of Louis to act up to 
what he has always said. He is so good a nephew, 
that all this will be dreadfully painful to him ; but he 
is quite convinced that his duty to his country and 
his future demands this step of him. He is obliged 
to go away from here, as he does not think it right 
for him to be always in opposition to Uncle 
Louis, and as he cannot gain by it what the country 
and the troops require. On account of all these 
reasons he considers it right to leave. 

He wished me to write all this to you, as he knows 
you will understand and not disapprove the confi- 
dence he bestows on one, on whose opinion he quite 
relies. He looks forward so much to coming to 
England, as he is worried and harassed by all that 
has happened. li\ all this he has again shown, as of 
old, that he always places himself 2.x\A his wishes and 
feelings in the background, and that to serve others 
and to do his duty are the sole aims of his existence. 
He will, as soon as he has received an answer from 
the Grand Duke, telegraph to you to settle our 
"plans. The children are overjoyed at the prospect 
of seeinof their dear Grandmama ao;ain. 



l8o PRINCESS ALICE. 

I am not up to very much, I don't always feel 
quite strong- ; but the change will do my good, I am 
sure. 

May 1 6th. 

The Grand Duke has not as yet consented to 
Louis' resignation. Louis has made conditions, 
under which it will be possible for him to remain, if 
Uncle L. consents. The first condition is to have a 
Prussian officer at his side. The Grand Duke de- 
clared he would sooner lose his country than give 
his consent to that. Louis has now officially written 
his letter of requirements, and sent it. But, what- 
ever happens, he will be able to get a short leave, 
he thinks, by the beginning of June. 

May 19th. 

The military affair is at length settled. Uncle 
Louis has given in to the points Louis demanded, 
and he retains his command. All are astonished at 
Louis' unlooked-for success in this affair, and as 
Uncle L. would not have a Prussian General, and 
had no one here to take in Louis' stead, who could 
do the things well, he had to agre.e and to allow 
what Louis was justified in asking. Louis' firmness 
and decision have done great good, and all are 
thankful to him for it, though others, who ought to 
do as he has done, have never shown the courage. 

Louis Is laid up with the most awful nettle-rash 
all over face and body, and is so unwell with it. He 
has had it now three days. Altogether since the 
winter, or rather since the war, he has had so much 
cause for vexation, that he has been constantly 
unwell ; and each time he is much worried he has 
an attack of illness. 

May 29th. 

* * * I presided at my committee of seven 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. l8l 

ladies and four gentlemen a long while yesterday, 
and to-morrow I have my other one, which is more 
numerous. It is an easy task, but I hope we shall 
have good results from our endeavors. 

Paris, June 9th. 

I really am half killed from sight-seeing and fetes, 
but all has interested me so much, and the Emperor 
and Empress [of the French] have been most kind. 
Yesterday was the ball at the Hotel de Ville, quite 
the same as it had been for you and dear Papa, and 
there were more than 8,000 people there. It was 
the finest sight I have ever seen, and it interested 
me all the more, as I knew it was the same as in the 
year when you were at Paris. 

Every morning we went to the Exhibition, and 
every evening there was a dinner or ball. It was 
most fatiguing. To-morrow morning we leave, and 
had really great trouble to get away, for the Emperor 
and Empress and others begged us so much to re- 
main for the ball at the Tuileries to-morrow night ; 
but we really could not, on account of Wednesday's 
concert,* as we should barely arrive in time. 

The attentat on the Emperor of Russia was dread- 
ful, and we were close by at the time. The Empress 
can't get over it, and she does not leave Uncle 
Sache's *|- side for an instant now, and takes him 
everywhere in her carriage. 

To-day we are going with the whole Court to 
Versailles. Dear Vicky is gone. She was so low 
the last days, and dislikes going to parties so much 
just now, that she was longing to get home. The 
King [of Prussia] wished them both to stop, but only 
Fritz remained. How sad these days will be for her, 

* At Buckingham Palace. f The Emperor of Russia. 



1 82 ' PRINCESS ALICE. 

poor love ! She was in such good looks ; every one 
here is charmed with her. 

[During the months of June and July, 1867, the 
Princess with her family was on a visit in England.] 

Darmstadt, August 4th. 

We arrived here at midnight on Friday and I was 
so knocked up '^ * ''' that I was incapable of 
doing any thing yesterday. 

^ * * My poor Willem * was buried yester- 
day. Every one regrets the poor child, for he was 
very dear. I miss him so much here, for he did 
every thing for me, and liked being about me and 
the children. All our servants went to the burial. 
It quite upset me here not to find him, for I was 
really attached to him, and he learnt so well, and was 
in many ways so nice, though of course troublesome 
too at times. How short life is, and the instant one 
is gone, he is so wiped away for others, and one 
knows so absolutely nothing about the person any 
more ! Were it not for a strong faith in a future, it 
would indeed be cruel to bear. No one of the 
family is here. We leave to-morrow for Zurich, 
where we shall be at ten at night ; the next day to 
Chur, and the next day to St. Moritz. 

St. MoRiTiJ, August ist. 

With perfect weather we accomplished our 
journey perfectly, and were enchanted with the 
beautiful scenery from Ziirich here, not to speak of 
this place. 

The first day — 5th — we left Darmstadt at 1 1 a.m., 
and did not reach Zurich till eleven at night. We 
eot two little rooms in the Hotel Baur, but the 

o 

* The Princess' servant (see ante, p. 56). The boy was brought from 
Java by Baron Schenk-Schmittburg. His father was a negro, his mother 
a Javanese. 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 1 83 

whole place was full. The next morning after break- 
fast we went to look at the lovely lake, which is 
green and quite transparent. It was a beautiful 
warm morning. We left by rail at ten, partly along 
the lake of Zurich and then along the Wallenstadter 
See, which is long and narrow, with high perpendicu- 
lar mountains down to the water — very wild and 
picturesque. This lake likewise is of that marvellous 
green color. We reached Chur at three that after- 
noon — a pretty small town, situated close up against 
a mountain. We visited a beautiful old church there, 
which contains fine old pictures and relics ; it was 
built in the time of the Romans, and is still the 
chief church of the bishopric. 

The next morning we tv/o, with Sarah, Logoz 
and our footman, left at six o'clock in a diligence 
(we both sitting in the coupe in front) with four 
horses, for here the road is the grandest one can im- 
agine, perpetually ascending for two hours, and then 
descending again, always along precipices, and the 
horses at a quick trot turning sharp round the 
corners — which, I assure you is a trial to the best 
nerves. We drove over the Julier Pass, which was 
a road already used by the Romans, and which is 
almost the highest in Switzerland. One passes 
close to the top of the mountains, which have snow 
on them, and are wild and rugged like the top of 
Lochnasfar. Lower down, the mountains are cov- 
ered with bright green grass and fir trees, but rocks 
look out everywhere, and there are constantly lovely 
water- falls. 

After crossing the Pass, we drove down — very 
steep, of course nothing on the edge of the road, 
always zigzag, and at a sharp trot — for some dis- 
tance down to Silva Plana, where the view over the 



1 84 PRINCESS ALICE. 

valley and lakes of the Engadlne, where St. Moritz 
lies, is beyond description beautiful. 

We reach this in the evening at six o'clock, the 
weather being most beautiful. The Curhaus is be- 
low the town, and looks like a large asylum. It is 
overfilled with people. We have two rooms, but 
our people as yet, none, though they hope for some 
to-morrow. 

I saw Dr. Berry, a little Swiss man, and he rec- 
ommended me to take the baths twice a week, be- 
sides drinking the waters ; which I have begun this 
morning at seven o'clock, the usual hour, as one 
has to walk up and down a quarter of an hour be- 
tween the glasses. The bath I took at ten. It is 
tepid and also iron water, which bubbles like soda 
water, and makes one feel as if insects were crawl- 
ing over one. 

Lina Aumale is here, the Parises and Nemours. 
Fritz and Louise [of Baden] leave to-morrow. This 
afternoon we drove with them, in two funny little 
" Wageli " with one horse, to Samaden, where 
Louise went Into the hotel to see Mme. d'Usedom, 
who was lately upset with her carriage off the road, 
as there is no barrier, and hurt herself severely. 
We saw her brother likewise. 

I have sent you a nosegay of Edelweiss and other 
Alp flowers. I hope it won't arrive quite dead. 
You must fancy them alive, aiid, if they could speak, 
they would tell you how much I love you, and how 
constantly I think of you, and of my dear, dear home! 

St. Moritz, August iilh. 

vs- :■: ♦ ^11 |-}-jg Orleans' left this place suddenly 

yesterday, as there are three cases of scarlatina in 

the house. We consulted the doctor immediately, 

whether he thous^ht it safe for Louis to remain, he 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 1 85 

never having- had it, and he said, " Perfecdy, as we 
are at the other end of the house, and out nearly all 
day." 

Victor and Lolo [Count and Countess Gleichen] 
are here, and we went out drawing together yester- 
day ; but it is too difficult here. I think constantly 
how much you would admire this place : it is indeed 
exquisitely beautiful — much the finest I have ever 
seen. It is very wild and reminds me in parts of 
dear Scotland. 

You say that our home in England is dull now 
for those who like to amuse themselves. It is 7iever 
dull, darling Mama, vv^hen one can be with you, for 
I have indeed never met a more ao^reeable charminof 
companion. Time always flies .by when one is with 
you. I hope it is not impertinent my saying so. 

St. Moritz, August 13th. 

* * * I knew you would feel for me at the 
loss of my poor Willem. Of course one must feel 
that sort of loss more than that of many a relation, 
if one knew the latter but little. I said to Louis at 
the time, that Willem's death distressed me more 
than would that of several relations who were not 
intimate with me. ^- * * 

Yesterday we and the Gleichens went to the 
Rosegg Glacier, and to get there had to go from 
Pontresina in little Bergzvagen, which are strong 
miniature Leitei'wageii without springs, and we went 
over a horrid path with quantities of stones, so the 
shaking was beyond description. 

Victor and Lolo go mostly with us and we always 
dine together. 

I take three glasses beginning at seven in the 
morning, and a bath at eight. One lies in a wooden 
thing, covered over up to one's chin with boards, 
and remains so twenty minutes. 



1 86 PRINCESS ALICE. 

We lunch at twelve and dine at half-past six, 
and go to bed early. We are out nearly all day 
long. It is very warm, the sun scorching ; my 
face is quite red-brown, in spite of veils and 
parasols. I feel already very much better, and 
Louis says my face is quite fat. I wish we could 
remain lonc^er than the end of the month, but Louis 
must be home. 

I hope you notice the pains I take with my writ- 
ing, for you complained of it at Osborne — I fear, 
justly — and I am trying to improve it again. 

St. Moritz, August i6th. 

Yesterday we made a beautiful expedition, which 
it may amuse you to hear of, as in an exaggerated 
way it reminded me of our nice Scotch ones. The 
evening before we left with Victor and Lolo (without 
servants) about eight o'clock for Pontresina. The 
country looked more beautiful than ever in the 
brightest moonlight. We found two very small but 
clean rooms in an hotel outside the village. 

The next morning we got up at half- past four, 
dressed, and breakfasted, then got on four horses 
with most uncomfortable saddles, with our guide 
Adam Engler, an amusing man, most active and 
helpful. We saw the sun rising over the snow- 
covered mountains, and the valleys gradually com- 
ing out clearer. 

We were to ascend the Piz Languard, a mountain 
1,200 feet high. We rode for two hours by a worse 
and much steeper road than up the Glassalt, then 
walked over rocks, sand, and slippery grass, so steep 
that one could not look up to see where one was 
going to, quite precipitous on each side, leaving snow 
and glacier below us. The last bit has a sort of im- 
mensely high steps hewn in the rock. After an 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 18/ 

hour and a half's hard labor we reached the summit, 
which is rocky and small — enormous precipices all 
round. Poor Lolo was giddy for some time, which 
was very unpleasant. The view from the top is 
most extensive. The Italian, Swiss, and Tyrolese 
Alps are all to be seen, but the view was not very 
clear. We rested and ate something, and drank 
some Lochnagar whisky. The sun was getting in- 
tense. We commenced our descent at eleven 
o'clock, and had to walk the whole way back, for 
one can't ride down. We did not reach Pontresina 
till nearly four, as we had to rest several times, our 
limbs ached so, for there is no level ground the 
whole way, and the stones slip, and it was very hot. 
I had quite sore feet with blisters all over, so that 
the last hours were really agonizing. But it is 
a thing to have done, and the view amply repaid 
one, though one does not feel tempted to do it a 
second time. I feel very well, excepting my face, 
(which is still burning and quite red), and my unfor- 
tunate feet. 

Poor Christa wrote to me yesterday, and says ; — 
*' I must also tell your Royal Highness that I have 
received a letter in her own hand from Her Majesty 
the Queen. I cannot express how deeply this has 
moved me and filled me with grratitude. God bless 
the Queen for her rare human love ; for surely there 
is no one, who in such a position as hers, has pre- 
served a heart like hers, so full of kindness and 
sympathy for others." '''■" 

Dear sweet Mama, your kind and sisterly words 
have been balsam to many a wounded heart, and 
many are the blessings that have been craved for 
you from above by hearts filled with thankfulness 
for your true sympathy. 

* We give this extract in a translation, instead of the original German. 



188 PRINCESS ALICE. 

St. Moritz, August 21st, 
* * *"^ Now I will tell you of our expedition. 
Louis and I, Victor and Lolo, and a guide, with each 
a small bag, left this early on the morning of the 
17th (dear Grandmama's birthday) in a carriage for, 
Pontresina ; from thence, in two of those shaky 
Bergwagen, over part of the Bernina Pass, past the 
magnificent Morteratsch Glacier, which we saw per- 
fectly. The guide told us he had been there with 
Professor Tyndall, and that the latter had observed 
that the glacier advanced a foot a day in the warm 
weather, and old people recollect it having been a 
mile higher up. We soon left the high-road, and 
all vegetation, save grass, for a bad path into the 
Val da Fain. The heat was again intense. We 
lunched and rested, and then took the horses out of 
the carts for us ladies to ride. The scenery was 
wild and severe, until we began again to descend, 
and came down upon the lovely Livigno Valley, 
which is Italian, and covered with brown chalets. 
We reached the village of Livigno, with only wooden 
huts, by six o'clock, and turned into a funny little 
dark inn, in which we four found one small but clean 
room for us — most primitive. As the inhabitants 
speak a sort of Italian, we had the greatest diffi- 
culty to make ourselves understood. Victor cooked 
part of the dinner, and it was quite good. 

We all slept — I resting on a bed, the other three 
on the floor — in this little room, with the small win- 
dow wide open. 

The next morning we left at nine, and drove on 
no road in' such a small carriage — of course, no 
springs — our husbands at first getting a lift on the 
horses, without saddles ; then on foot up a steep and 
dangerous ascent. Splendid weather, but too hot. 



AT HOME AND AT WORK, 1 89 

We went over the Pass of the Stretta : a more dif- 
ficult and rough ground I never crossed in my Hfe, 
but splendid scenery. We came on a view which 
was glorious — such enormous snow-covered moun- 
tains and glaciers, with the green valleys deep 
below looking on Italy and the Tyrol. 

We reached Bormio by seven, and took up our 
residence at a bathing-place, quite magnificently 
situated, very high up — also Italian. The next 
morning we started early in carriages, and went over 
the Stelvio Pass. There, nearly at the risk of my 
neck, I picked for the first time some Edelweiss, 
which I am very proud of, as it is always difficult 
and rare to get. 

We got down to St. Maria, which is at the upper 
end of the Miinsterthal and belongs to Switzerland. 
In the afternoon, dreadfully hot, I was very thirsty 
and drank off a glass of milk ; but how it tasted ! It 
was goat's milk ; the people keep the cow's milk for 
butter and cheese. We remained the night there, 
and left the next morning for here, by Zernetz and 
Ofen. To get from one valley into another, one has 
always to ascend and descend enormous heights, and 
always by narrow paths at the edge of precipices. 
We enjoyed our tour immensely, and got on per- 
fectly without servants. Packing up my things, 
though, every morning was a great trouble, and the 
bag would usually not shut at first. The trees grow- 
ing here are splendid larches and arven * ; the latter 
grow only in these very high regions and In Siberia. 
Victor and his wife are most amiable and pleasant 
travelling-companions, and pleased with every thing ; 
not mindine to rouQfh it, which we had to do. 

* A kind of dwarf tree — half pine, half juniper — which grows in the 
highest regions of the Alps, and supplies most of the soft wood used by the 
Swiss wood-carvers. 



IQO PRINCESS ALICE. 

ScHLOss Mainau, August 30th. 

V * '•'• We left St. Moritz at seven, and reached 
Chur at seven in the evening. The next day we 
came on here to Louise of Baden. Fritz is at 
Carlsruhe. This place is very lovely, though, alas ! 
the fine mountains are gone, which one always 
misses so much. 

I thought of you more than I can say on the dear 
26th, and I felt low and sad all day. Dear Papa! 
Time has not yet accustomed us to see each anni- 
versary come round again, and he still remain away. 
It is so inexpressibly hard for you, and you must feel 
such intense longing for the dear past. There re- 
mains a future ! that is the only consolation. 

To-day we went with Louise by carriage, and then 
across part of the lake to the property of the Em- 
peror Napoleon, Arenenberg, which the Empress 
gave him eight years ago, and which was his home 
with his mother, and where she died. Every picture 
and bit of furniture is replaced as it was when the 
Emperor lived there, and he was there himself and 
replaced every thing. It is quite a page in history to 
see all the things that surrounded the Emperor in the 
days of his misfortune. 

Darmstadt, September 8th. 

* '■'■ * I spent three days and two nights with 
dear Alix at Wiesbaden, and I find her leg decidedly 
better. ^' * * It is a little less hot to-day, but 
much hotter even now than we ever have in England. 
Stallmeister Meyer * came to see us yesterday, and 
we took him out riding, which made him quite 
happy. Any one who reminds me of the good' old 
times before the 14th of December does me good ; 
it is a pleasure to speak about those past, so happy 

* Riding-master to the Prince Consort and the Queen from 1840 to 1871. 



AT HOME AND AT W0I?K: I9I 

days ! When they came to a close, I lost the greater 
part of my joyousness, which, though I am so happy, 
has never returned. A certain melancholy and sad- 
ness sometimes overcome me, which I can't shake 
off; then I have Heimweh after adored Papa to such 
an extent that tears are my only relief. 

Darmstadt, September 20th. 

% -^ ^ The Kine of Prussia's visit went off 
very well here, and both high personages seemed 
pleased to have got over the meeting. The King 
came most kindly to see us, and went over all our 
rooms, which seemed to amuse him. '^ "' '^ 
Yesterday evening Sache and Minnie * arrived, and 
we intend going over to see them all to-morrow. 

Louis will retain the command, but, according to 
the King's advice, has demanded a Prussian General 
Stabschef [Chief of the Staff], which will be a great 
assistance to him. 

At the sale of the Homburg things I bought a 
lovely miniature of dear Grandmama in a black velvet 
gown, with a red shawl over her shoulder — shortly 
after her marriage, I think. 

Darmstadt, October 3d. 
Yesterday evening I returned from Wiesbaden, 
leaving Alix well, but having caught a bad cold my- 
self. The children have equally heavy ones. 

Darmstadt, October 8th. 
Many thanks for your letter just received, and for 
the review of dear Papa's Life, which is excellent, 
and which I sent on to Aunt Feodore, as you de- 
sired. I have been laid up for a week with influenza, 
and am only about again since yesterday, though not 
out of the house. I am quite weak from it. The 

* The Cesarewitch and Cesarewna. 



192 FRIA^CESS ALICE. 

whole house is laid up with bad colds, and baby 
can't shake her's off at all. The coueh is so tirine, 
and she whoops whenever she coughs. Poor Jager, 
who is, alas ! we fear, consumptive, broke a blood- 
vessel two days ago, and is dangerously ill, to the 
great grief of all in the house. He is our best ser- 
vant, and so devoted ; he never would take care of 
himself, as he could not bear letting any one but 
himself attend on Louis. We have just got a Dia- 
konissin [Deaconness] to nurse him ; on account of 
his great weakness he can't be left alone one instant. 

Sir William, Lady, and Charlotte Knollys have 
been on a visit to us ; also Lady Geraldine Somerset 
for two nights. They are all interested to see our 
house. ^ 

Uncle George has made me a present of one of 
the horses the Sultan sent him. 

Darmstadt, October loth. 

I can't find words to say how sorry I am that dear 
sweet Arthur should have the small-pox! and that 
you should have this great anxiety and worry. God 
grant that the dear boy may get well over it, and 
that his dear handsome face be not marked ! 
Where in the world could he have caught it ? The 
Major kindly telegraphs daily, and you can fancy, far 
away, how anxious one is. I shall be very anxious 
to get a letter with accounts, for I think constantly 
of him, and of you. My parents-in-law wish me to 
tell you how they share your anxiety, and how they 
wish soon to hear of dear Arthur's convalescence ; 
of course my Louis likewise, for he shares all my feel- 
ings, being a real brother towards my Geschzvister 
[brothers and sisters]. 

We both paid the King of Prussia our respects at 
Frankfort this morning, principally to tell him that 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 1 93 

Bertie had been so grieved at the ill success of his 
intended visit, as the Queen begged us to do. 

I am better to-day, but Ella and Irene can't shake 
off their colds, and poor Ella is altogether unwell. 
Victoria is all right. 

We are eoinsf on the i8th to Baden for Fritz's 
birthday. 

Darmstadt, October i4lh. 

How glad I am to see by your letter that darling 
Arthur is going on so very well. One can't be too 
thankful ; and it is a good thing over, and will spare 
one's beinof anxious about him on other occasions. 

Bertie and Alix have been here since Saturday 
afternoon, and leave to-morrow. They go straight 
to Antwerp, and Bertie is going back to Brussels to 
see .the cousins. 

The visit of the King went off very well, and Alix 
was pleased with the kindness and civility of the 
King. I hear that the meeting was satisfactory to 
both parties, which I am heartily glad of. Bearing 
ill-will is always a mistake, besides its not being 
right. 

Dear Alix walked up our staircase with two sticks, 
of course very slowly, but she is improving wonder- 
fully, though her knee is quite stiff. 

Poor Jager is a little better, and the momentary 
danger is past, though I fear he cannot ultimately 
recover. How hard for poor Katrinchen ! There 
is much sorrow in the world, and how often such a 
share falls to the best and gentlest! I, of course, go 
to see him daily, but it always goes to my very heart 
to see that attached and faithful creature dying slowly 
away. How is Brown's sister ? 

We hope that Countess Bliicher will return here 
with Vicky and me from Baden for a few days, as it 
is an age since Vicky has seen her. 



194 PJilNCESS ALICE. 

Dear Alix Is writing in my room at this moment, 
and is so dear and sweet. She is a most lovable 
creature. 

Darmstadt, October 23d. 

I have had the pleasure of having Augusta and 
the Dean [Stanley] here since yesterday, but they 
leave ao-ain this morninq-. 

The King of Prussia is here to-day, and there is a 
large dinner for him in the Schloss, and he is kind 
enough to come and see me afterward. 

The accounts of poor dear Aunt Feodore are so 
sad, and I hear she does not look well, and is so low 
about her eyes and being unable to see you again 
after so long a separation. She seems alone and 
lonely, with old age and sickness coming over her. 
If I had been well, I should have gone to see her. 
I am much better these last days. I can breathe 
much better, but the dreadfully swelled ankles and 
wrists remain as bad as before, and cause great dis- 
comfort and even pain. I never had this before. 

SCHWEINSBERG, Octobcr 24th, 

Dear Vicky and Fritz left us yesterday morning. 
It is such a pleasure to me to think that they, like 
Bertie and Alix, know my house, and that they have 
lodged under our roof. When will you, darling 
Mama ? If ever again you go abroad and wish to 
rest on your way, all in the world we have is at your 
disposal. How happy that would make us ! 

We ourselves left at four yesterday afternoon, re- 
maining the night at Marburg, and leaving at a 
quarter to five in the morning, so that Louis could 
reach Alsfeld in time to join the shooting-party. 
We parted at KIrchhaIn, and I came here with 
Chrlsta to her mother's house — so sad and changed 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 1 95 

since three years ago. It is most kind of them to 
have taken me up here, and the bracing air will do 
me good. They know that I can understand what a 
house of mourning is, and that I don't want to amuse 
myseh^. 

Ella cried on parting with us yesterday, and 
wanted to oret into the train with us. 

Victoria is going to have a little lesson every 
other day, when I go back, from Mr. Geyer, who 
taught poor Willem, and who teaches little girls par- 
ticularly well. She must begin in my room, as it is 
better not to have lessons in the nursery, I think. 
Vicky and I spoke much together about education 
and taking a governess. I thought to wait a year 
(for financial reasons), and I think it time enough 
then — do not you ? 

Darmstadt, October 26th. 

* * ■^* We arrived late at Baden, and Vicky 
and Fritz, who had had two long days' journey, 
were very tired ; but we had to go to dress at once, 
to go to a soiree at Madame Viardot's, which lasted 
till midnicjht, and at which the Kino^ and Oueen were 
present. Her daughters and scholars sang a little 
operetta she had composed, which was very pretty. 

I hope the inauguration of the statue went off as 
well as the weather would permit. 

November 15th. 

* * * It is so good and wholesome not always 
to be one's own master, and to have to suit one's 
self to the wish of others, and, above all, to that of 

one's mother and sovereign. feels it as such, 

and often told me so, regretting how seldom such 
was the case. 

The Moriers are often with us, and we value them 
much ; they are such pleasant companions, and such 
excellent, clever people. 



196 PRINCESS ALICE. 

Darmstadt, December 6th, 

* * * The visit to Claremont must have been 
quite pecuHar for you ; and I can fancy it bringing 
back to your mind the recollections of your child- 
hood. In spring it must be a lovely place, and, with 
gayer papers on the walls, and a little modern com- 
fort, the house must likewise be very pleasant. Ella, 
who was breakfasting with me just now, saw me dip 
my Bretzcl in my coffee, and said : " Oh, Mama, you 
must not ! Do you allow yourself to do that ? " be- 
cause I don't allow her to do it. She is too funny, 
and by no means quite easy to manage — a great con- 
trast to Victoria, who is a very tractable child. Ella 
has a wonderful talent for sewing, and, when she 
keeps quiet a little while, sews quite alone and 
without mistakes. She is making something for you 
for Christmas, which she is quite excited about. Vic- 
toria's little afternoon lesson answers admirably, and 
is the happiest time of the day for her. She can 
read words already. 

We have snow and ice, and no sunshine since 
some time, and it is not inviting to take the dull 
walks in the town. But I make a rule to go out 
twice a day, and keep nearly the same hours as at 
home. 

The account of your visit to Lady Palmerston and 
to her daughter is most touching. It is so inexpres- 
sibly sad for grandmother and mother, for it is un- 
natural for parents to survive their children, and 
that makes the grief a so peculiar one, and very hard 
to bear. 

December 9th. 

* * * During the long winter days, when Louis 
is away sometimes four times in the week from six in 
the mornin^ till six in the eveninq", and then when he 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 1 97 

returns from his shooting has his work to do, I feel 
lonely. I am often for several hours consecutively 
quite by myself; and for my meals and walks only 
a lady, as she is the only person in the house besides 
ourselves. It is during these hours, when one can- 
not always be reading or at work, that I should wish 
to have some one to go to, or to come to me' to sit 
and speak with ; but such is not the case, and it is 
this I regret — accustomed as I was to a house full 
of people, with brothers and sisters, and above all, 
the chance of being near you. I always feel how 
willingly I would spend some of those hours with or 
near you — and the sea ever lies between us] When 
Louis is at home and free — for in the mornine I 
don't see him — then I have all that this world can 
give me, for I am indeed never happier than at his 
dear side ; and time only increases our affection, and 
binds us closer to each other. 

We have deep snow now and sledging the last 
two days. 

December 12th. 

Before going to rest, I take up my pen to write a 
few loving words that they may reach you on the 
morning of the 14th. The sound of that date brings 
with it that sad and dreary recollection which, for 
you, my poor dear Mama, and for us, time cannot 
alter. As long as our lives last, this time of year 
must fill us with sad and earnest feelings, and revive 
the pain of that bitter parting. 

I ought not to dwell on those hours now, for it is 
wrong to open those wounds afresh, which God in 
His mercy finds little ways and means to heal and 
soothe the pain of. 

Dear darling Papa is, and ever will be immorlal. 
The good he has done ; the great ideas he has 



198 PRINCESS ALICE. 

promulgated in the world ; the noble and unselfish 
example he has given, will live on, as I am sure he 
must ever do, as one of the best, purest, most God- 
like men that have come down into this world. His 
example will, and does, stimulate others to higher 
and purer aims ; and I am convinced that darling 
Papa did not live in vain. His great mission was 
done ; and what has remained undone he has placed 
in your dear hands, who will know best how to 
achieve his great works of love and justice. I shall 
think much, very much, of you on the 14th, and 
you will be more in my prayers than ever. Think 
also a little of your most devoted child ! 

Darmstadt, Christmas Day. 

We missed poor Willem so much in arranging all 
the things ; and poor Jager's illness was also sad. 
We gave him a tree in his room. He looks like a 
shadow, and his voice is quite hoarse. 

To two hospitals, the military and the town one, I 
took presents yesterday, and saw many a scene of 
suffering and grief. My children are going to give 
a certain number of poor children a Bescheerung 
on New Year's Day. It is so good to teach them, 
early to be generous and kind to the poor. They 
even wish to eive some of their own things, and 
such as are not broken. 

Your many generous presents will find their use 
at once, and the Christmas pie, etc., be shared by all 
the family. The remembrances of those bright 
happy Christmases at Windsor are constantly before 
me. None will ever be again what those were, 
without you, dear Papa, and dear kind Grandmama. 

Darmstadt, December 27th. 
* * * I am sure you will have felt under 



A T HOME AND A T WORK. 



199 



many a circumstance in life, that if any momentary 
feeling was upon you, and you were writing to some 
one near and dear, it did you good to put down 
those feelings on paper, and that, even in the act of 
doing so, when the words were barely written, the 
feehng had begun to die away, and the intercourse 
had done you good. 



1868. 



Although the winter season brought many social 
duties with it, the Princess' active personal attention 
to all those good works and institutions which she 
had called into existence never flagged. No subject 
of interest or importance escaped her, and her time 
was always fully occupied. In April she met the 
Crown Prince at Gotha, where Prince Louis also 
came, on his return from Munich, to fetch her. She 
spent the months of June and July in England with 
her three little girls, either at Osborne, Windsor, or 
in London. The return journey to Darmstadt was 
made by water as far as Mayence. The autumn 
was spent at Kranichstein, in the neighborhood 
of which the manoeuvres of the Hessian division 
took place, at some of which the Princess was 
present. 

On the 25th of November, to the great joy of the 
parents and the country, a son and heir was born — 
" a splendid boy." At his christening, on the 28th 
of December, he received, at the special desire 
of the Grand Duke, the names Ernst Ludwig — which 



200 PRINCESS ALICE. 

had been borne by so many of the old Landgraves 
of Hesse. The sponsors were the Queen of Eng- 
land and the Kingr of Prussia. 

Darmstadt, January 24th. 

* -X- * To-night I am going to act with two 
other persons in our dining-room a pretty little piece 
called" Am Klavier," but I fear I shall be very nervous, 
and consequently act badly, which would be too tire- 
some. 

I have never tried to act in any thing since " Roth- 
kappchen." 

February 14th. 

What a fright the news of dear Leopold's danger- 
ous attack has eiven us ! Mr. Sahl's letter to 
Becker arrived yesterday afternoon containing the 
bad news, and he spoke of so little hope, that I was 
so upset and so dreadfully distressed for the dear 
darling, for you, poor Mama, and for us all, that I 
am quite unwell still to-day. 

When your telegram came to-day, and Louise's 
letter, I was so relieved and only pray and hope that 
the improvement may continue. May God spare 
that young bright and gifted life, to be a comfort and 
support to you for many a year to come ! 

Had I only had a telegram ! for, the letter being 
two days old, until your telegram came I passed six 
such agonizing hours ! Away from home, every 
news of illness or sorrow there is so difficult to bear 
— when one can share all the anxiety and trouble 
only in tho^t.ght. 

The day passes so slowly without news, and I am 
always looking toward the door to see if a telegram 
is coming. Please let me hear regularly till he 
is quite safe ; I do love the dear boy, as I do all my 
brothers and sisters, so tenderly ! 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 201 

How I wish you had been spared this new 
anxiety ! Those two days must have been dread- 
ful ! 

Dading Mama, how I wish I were with you ! 
God grant that in future you may send us only good 
news. 

Louis and my parents-in-law send their respectful 
love and the expression of their warmest sympathy, 
in which the other members of the family join. 

February 2d. 

How glad and truly thankful I am, that the Al- 
mighty has saved our darling Leopold and spared 
him to you and to us all ! For the second or even 
third time that life has been given again, when all 
feared that it must leave us ! A mother's heart 
must feel this so much more than any other one's, 
and dear Leopold, through having caused you all his 
life so much anxiety, must be inexpressibly dear to 
you, and such an object to watch over and take care 
of. Indeed from the depth of my heart I thank God 
with you for having so mercifully spared dear Leo, 
and watched over him when death seemed so near! 

You will feel deeply now the great joy of seeing 
a convalescence after the great danger, and I know, 
through a thousand little things, how your loving 
and considerate heart will find pleasure and consola- 
tion in cheering your patient. 

That for the future you must ever be so anxious is 
a dreadful trial, but it is to be hoped that Leo will 
yet outgrow this strange illness. I am sure good 
Archie '"* takes great care of him, and by this time 
he will have gathered plenty of experience to be a 
eood nurse. 



t> 



* Archibald Brown, his valet, younger brother of the Queen's personal at- 
tendant. 



202 PRINCESS ALICE. 

Baby is better, but her poor head and face are 
perfectly covered with spots, and she was in despair 
with the smarting- and itching, and of course rubbed 
herself quite sore. Ella has it slightly since this 
morning. 

Darmstadt, February 13th. 

■K- * -::- pirst let me wish you joy for the birth 
of this new grandson, ^'' born on your dear wedding- 
day. I thought of you on the morning of the loth, 
and meant to telegraph, but those dreadful neuralgic 
pains came on before I had time to look about me, 
and really laid me prostrate for the whole day, as 
they lasted so very long. I have never felt so un- 
well, or suffered so much in my life, and this 
moment, sitting up in Louis' room, I feel more 
weak than I have ever felt on first getting up after 
my confinements. Quinine has kept me free from 
pain to-day, and I hope will do so to-morrow. I 
have been in bed a week and touched absolutely 
nothing all the time. Yesterday evening, as through- 
out the day, I had had (but much more slightly) a 
return of these agonizing attacks, which seized my 
left eye, ear, and the whole left side of my head and 
nose. I got up and sat in Louis' room ; I could 
only bear it for two hours, and all but fainted before I 
reached my bed. If I can get strength, and have 
no return of pain, I hope to go out after to-morrow. 
I could not see the children or any one during this 
week, and always had my eyes closed, first from 
pain, and then from exhaustion when the pain left 
me. I really thought I should go out of my mind, 
and you know I can stand a tolerable amount of 
pain. 

* Prince Waldemar of Prussia, fourth son of tlie Crown Prince and Prin- 
cess. He died of diphtheria on tlie 27th of March, 1879. 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 203 

February 17th. 

'^ % '^ii Y am so distressed that you remained 
so long without news. I was really for a whole 
week quite incapable of any idea about any thing, 
and had mostly my eyes shut, and was constantly 
alone, as I could not bear any one in the room. 

General Plonsky, the Corps Commandant from 
Cassel, came here unexpectedly, and Louis, being 
under his command, was so taken up during those 
days, besides an immense deal of military business, 
that I never saw him more than a few minutes in the 
morning; and during his free time in the afternoon 
he sat, like the best nurse in the world, near my bed 
in the dark room, putting wet rags on my head and 
trying by every possible means to alleviate my pains. 
He was touching in the great care he took of me. 
Louis and Harriet did all for me, and I could bear 
no one else about me. You see, poor Louis had 
no time to write, and he always thought that I 
should be well the next day and write myself. 

Darmstadt, February 24th. 

To my and, I fear, dear Vicky's great disappoint- 
ment. Dr. Weber won't let me go to Berlin, and 
wants me to go to Wiesbaden for a cold-water cure 
instead. The latter will be intensely dull, as I shall 
be there for four weeks all alone ; but I believe it 
will be very beneficial, as with every year I seem to 
get more rheumatic, which at my age is of course 
not good. 

We shall hope to be able to come to Windsor, 
middle of June, as you desire. The exact time you 
will kindly let us know later. 

Darmstadt, March 9th. 
* * "^ Louis left yesterday morning for Mu- 



204 PRINCESS ALICE. 

nich. It is a twelve hours' journey. There is a 
procession on foot at the funeral, going to the church 
through the town, which will last about two hours, 
and then a very long ceremony in the large, cold 
Basilica.* 

Darmstadt, March 14th. 

I send you a few lines to-day for the i6th, the an- 
niversary of the first great sorrow which broke in 
upon your happy life. How well do I recollect how 
I accompanied you and dear Papa down to .Frogmore 
that night, our dinner in the flower room, the dread- 
ful watching in the corridor, and then the so painful 
end ! Darling Papa looked so pale, so deeply dis- 
tressed, and was so full of tender sympathy for you. 
He told me to go to you and comfort you, and was 
so full of love and commiseration as I have never 
seen any man before or after. Dear, sweet Papa! 
that in that same year we should live together 
through such another heart-rending scene again, and 
he not there to comfort or support you, poor Mama! 

It sometimes, even at this distance of time, seems 
nearly impossible that we should have lived through 
such times, and yet be alive and resigned. 

God's mercy is indeed great; for He sends a balm 
to soothe and heal the bruised and faithful heart, and 
to teach one to accommodate one's self to one's sor- 
row, so as to know how to bear it! 

Darmstadt, April 2d. 
* * '*' Louis is in a most unpleasant crisis with 
the Ministry and the Grand Duke. I don't know 
how it will end. 

Darmstadt, April 5th. 
Only two words to-day, as my heart is so full of 

* At the funeral of King Louis I., who had died at Nice on the 29th of 
February. 



A T HOME AND A T WORK. 205 

love and gratitude to you who took such care of me 
this day five years ago, who heard Victoria's first cry, 
and were such a comfort and help to us both. All 
these recollections make Victoria doubly dear to us, 
and, as in this world one never knows what will hap- 
pen, I hope that you will always watch over our 
dear child, and let her be as clear to you as though 
she had been one of us. 

We have spent the day very sadly and quietly 
toofether. Louis' affairs have taken such a turn that 
he has been obliged to tender the Grand Duke his 
resignation, as he does not consider it compatible 
with his honor to remain, under existing circum- 
stances. He has made a great sacrifice to his duty 
and honor, but doing one's duty brings the reward 
with it of a clear conscience. 

April 3d. 

" ^ '"'' The Kinor of Prussia has sent General 
von Bonin here to speak seriously with the Grand 
Duke, and prove to him through papers, etc., that he 
has not kept his word, and that he has been very 
badly advised, and that Louis was quite in the right. 
The result has been that the poor Grand Duke is 
scandalized at the state of affairs, and that he really 
seems to have been more in the dark than was sup- 
posed. He gives Louis the command again, sends 
away the whole Kriegsministerium [War Depart- 
ment], to be reorganized more simply, and with 
other people, according to Louis' proposals ; and so 
all inilitary affairs will be in order, and Louis have 
much greater power to carry out all that has to be 
done. 

We are so pleased at all having turned out thus 
far well, and know that you will share our feelings. 
Louis gets more work and a great responsibility ; 



206 PRINCESS ALICE. 

but he has proved himself so capable in every re- 
spect, so active and hard-working, that I think and 
trust he will overcome all difficulties. 

I go alone to Gotha, and Louis will follow as soon 
as he can, so as to spend my birthday there. 

I am so distressed at dear, good Sir James [Clark's 
illness. I hope and trust that this precious old frienc. 
will still be spared for a few years at least. 

Gotha, April 25th. 

% -X- i:- j|- jg Y\Q>v^ eleven years since I spent my 
birthday with dear Vicky, and she has been so dear 
and kind, and dear Aunt and Uncle likewise. We 
spend the day quite quietly together, and the bad 
weather prevents any expeditions. 

After to-morrow we go home. 

Darmstadt, May 4th. 

Accept my best thanks for your last letter written 
on dear Arthur's birthday. The playing of the band 
I am sure gave him pleasure ; but it would be too 
painful for all ever to have it again on the terrace as 
formerly. There are certain tunes which that Ma- 
rine Band used to play, which, when I have chanced 
to hear them elsewhere, have quite upset me, so 
powerful does the recollection of those so very happy 
birthdays at Osborne remain upon me ! Those 
happy, happy days touch me even to tears when I 
think of them. What a joyous childhood we had, 
and how greatly it was enhanced by dear, sweet 
Papa, and by all your great kindness to us ! 

I try to copy as much as lies in my power all 
these things for our children, that they may have an 
idea, when I speak to them of it, of what a happy 
home ours was. 

I do feel so much for dear Beatrice and the other 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 20/ 

younger ones, who had so much less of it than we 
had! 

Darmstadt, May nth. 

For your sake I am sorry that my condition should 
cause you anxiety, for you have enough of that, God 
knows. But I am so well this time that I hope and 
trust all may go well, though one is never sure. It 
is this conviction which I always have, and which 
makes me serious and thoughtful, as who can know 
whether with the termination of this time my life 
may not also terminate ? 

This is also one of the reasons why I long so very 
much to see you, my own precious Mama, this sum- 
mer, for I cling to you with a love and gratitude, the 
depth of which I know I can never find words or 
means to express. After a year's absence I wish 
so intensely to behold your dear, sweet, loving face 
again, and to press my lips on your dear hands. The 
older I grow the more I value and appreciate that 
mother's love which is unique in the world ; and 
having, since darling Papa's death, only you, the love 
to my parents and to adored Papa's memory is all 
centred m you. 

Louis has leave from the nth of June to the 
I ith of August. 

Uncle Ernest is coming here to-day for the day, 
from Frankfort, where he has been to a cattle-show. 
Uncle Adalbert is here, so much pleased with having 
seen you again, singing the praise of both Lenchen 
and Louise, which of course I joined in, as it is such 
a pleasure to hear others admire and appreciate my 
dear sisters. 

Darmstadt, May 14th. 
I know you will be grieved to hear that we all 



208 PRINCESS ALICE. 

have had the grief of losing good, excellent Jager.* 
He was, on the whole, better and was out daily, and 
he went to bed as usual, when in the middle of the 
night he called one of the men, and before they 
could come to his assistance he expired, having 
broken a blood-vessel. Poor Katrinchen's despair 
and grief were quite heart-rending, when we went 
together to see our true and valued servant for the 
last time. I was so upset by the whole, that it was 
some days before I got over it. We made wreaths 
to put on his coffin, which was covered with flowers 
sent from all sides, and we both were at the door 
with our servants when he was carried out, and tried 
to console the poor, unfortunate Braid [bride], who 
remained at home. 

He was the best servant one could find ; never, 
since he has been in our service, had he been found 
fault with by any one. He was good, pious, and 
gentle, and very intelligent. The death of a good 
man, who has fulfilled his allotted duty in this world 
as a good Christian ought, touches one deeply, and 
we have really mourned for him as for a friend, for 
he was one in the true sense of the word. Jager 
rests alongside my poor Willem, in the pretty little 
cemetery here ; a bit of my heart went with them. ^ 

Fritz, on his way back from Italy, spent a few 
hours with us, and told us much of his journey. He 
heard the strancfest rumors of France intendinof to 
break out in sudden hostilities with Germany, and 
asked me what you thought of a probability of a war 
for this summer. I hope to God, that nothing hor- 
rid of that sort will happen ! Do you think it likely, 
dear Mama ? 

* A footman, much valued by the Prince and Princess. 



A T HOME AND A T WORK, 209 

Darmstadt, May 19th. 

My own darling' and most precious Mama, the 
warmest and tenderest wishes that grateful children 
can form for a beloved parent we both form for you, 
and these lines but weakly express all I would like 
to say. May God bless and watch over a life so 
precious and so dear to many ! It is now six years 
since I spent that dear day near you, but I hope that 
some time or other we shall be allowed to do so. 
Our joint present is a medal for you with our heads. 
We had it made large in oxidized silver on purpose 
for you. I myself have braided and embroidered, 
with Christa's help (who begged to be allowed to do 
something for you), a trimming for a dress, which I 
hope you will like and wear. It took a deal of my 
time, and my thoughts were so much with you while 
I was doing it, that I quite regretted its completion. 

We are having a bracelet with our miniatures and 
the three children's in it made for you, but unfortu- 
nately it is not finished, so we shall bring it and give 
it to you ourselves. 

Darmstadt, May 29th. 

* * * The intense heat remains the same, and 
becomes daily less endurable here in town — the re- 
sult on my unfortunate person being a very painful 
rash which itches beyond all description. I hope it 
won't increase. 

How I envy you at Balmoral ! the very thought of 
that air makes me better. 

Osborne, August 6th. 

I was just sitting down to write to you when Er- 
nest came in with your dear letter. Thousand thanks 
for it ! These parting lines will be such a dear com- 
panion to me on our journey. I can't tell you how 
much I felt taking leave of you this time, dear Mama; 



2IO PRINCESS ALICE. 

it always is such a wrench to tear myself away from 
you and my home again. Where I have so, oh, so 
much to be thankful and grateful to you for, I always 
fear that I can never express my thanks as warmly 
as I feel them, which I do indeed from the bottom of 
my heart. God bless you, darling Mama, for all 
your love and kindness ; and from the depth of my 
heart do I pray that nothing may cause you such 
anxiety and sorrow again as you have had to bear of 
late. '"- * -^ 

When I left you at the pier the return to the 
empty house was so sad ! It felt quite strange, and 
by no means pleasant, to be here without you and all 
the others. We lunched alone with Victoria, and 
dined in the hot dinino^-room with the ladies and 
gentlemen, sitting on the terrace afterward. 

It has rained all the morning, and is most oppres- 
sive. As it is so foggy, we have to leave at two ; 
but there is no wind, and I hope the sea will be quite 
smooth. I am sure you must feel lonely and de- 
pressed on this journey, poor Mama ; but the change 
of scene and beautiful nature enjoyed in rest and 
quiet must surely do you good. 

Kranichstein, August loth. 
% % -;:- -^Yg jgfj- Osborne at two on Thursday in 
rain and wind. The children and I were dreadfully 
sick an hour after starting, but the passage got 
smoother later ; and, though I was very wretched in 
every way, I was not sick again. The same sort of 
weather on the Alberta next morninsf, but it cleared 
up later. The Rhine steamer was very comfortable, 
and Doctor Minter accomp^iciied us to Dordrecht. 
The last afternoon and niorht on board I suffered 
dreadfully. Since I arrived here, I am better, but 
not right yet. Had it not been for your great kind- 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 211 

ness in giving us the ship, I am sure I should not 
have got home right. This awful heat adds to my 
feelines of fatiene and discomfort, 

Kranichstein, August nth. 

I have just received your letter, from Lucerne, and 
hasten to thank you for it. 

How glad I am that you admire the beautiful 
scenery, and that I know it, and can share your ad- 
miration and enjoyment of it in thought with you! 
It is most lovely. The splendid forms, and the color 
of the lake, are two things that we don't know in 
dear Scotland, and which are so peculiar to Swiss 
scenery. 

Louis is in town from eight till our two o'clock 
dinner, and has a great deal to do. 

For your sake as for my own I long for a respite 
from this unbearable heat, which is so weakening 
and trying. 

Kranichstein, August i6th. 

■K- % % How satisfactory the accounts of dear 
good Arthur are ! From the depth of my heart do 
I congratulate you on all that Colonel Elphinstone 
says about his character, for with a real moral foun- 
dation, and a strict sense of duty and of what is right 
and wrong, he will have a power to combat the 
temptations of the world and those within himself. 
I am sure that he will grow up to be a pride and 
pleasure to you, and an honor to his country. 

Brown must have been glad to be allowed 
to continue wearing his kilt, and, as it is a national 
dress, it is far more natural that he should give it up 
nowhere. I am sure that he and Annie * must ad- 
mire the place. 

* Mrs. McDonald, the Queen's first wardrobe-maid. 



212 PRINCESS ALICE. 

Kranichstein, August 26th. 

I have just received your dear letter, and am so 
pleased to hear that you enjoyed your excursion, and 
that you have now seen the sort of wild scenery 
high up in the mountains, which I think so beautiful 
and grand in Switzerland. For all admxirers of that 
style of scenery there is nothing to be compared to 
Switzerland. 

Since it became cool aofain I have had neuralsfia 
in my head, and I have had a dreadful sty, which had 
to be cut open, and made me quite faint and sick for 
the whole day. In spite of it I went to the station 
here, with a thick veil on, to see the Russian relations 
pass two days ago. The Emperor looks even more 
altered and worn since last year, and is suddenly 
grown so old. 

Kranichstein, September 4th. 

♦ * * How too delightful your expeditions 
must have been ! I do rejoice that, through the 
change of weather, you should have been able to see 
and enjoy all that glorious scenery. Without your 
good ponies and Brown, etc., you would have felt 
how difficult such ascents are for common mortals, 
particularly when the horses slip, and finally sit 
down. I am sure all this will have done you good ; 
seeing such totally new beautiful scenery does re- 
fresh so immensely, and the air and exertion — both 
of which you seem to bear so well now — will do 
your health good. 

Yesterday we both were two hours at Jugenheim. 
To-day the two little cousins are coming to see 
my children. 

Louis' business is increasing daily, and until the 
19th, manoeuvres, inspections, etc., won't be over. 
He will even have to be away on his birthday, which 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 213 

is a o-reat bore. There is a grreat review for the 
Emperor on Saturday. 

Sepetmber 15th. 

* ^' ^ Like a foolish frightened creature as I 
am, I have worried myself so much about this sud- 
den talk of war and threatenin^j in all the French 
papers, saying that October, November, or there- 
abouts would be a good time to begin. Do tell me, 
if you think there is the least reasonable apprehen- 
sion for any thing of that sort this year. I have such 
confidence in your opinion, and you can imagine 
how in my present condition I must tremble before 
a recurrence of all I went through in 1866 ! 

I am so grieved that you should be so unwell on 
the journey home. Dear beautiful Scotland will do 
you good. I envy your going there, and wish I 
could be with you, for I am so fond of it. Remem- 
ber me to all the good people. 

Darmstadt, October 2Sth, 

* "'■ * The Queen of Prussia is coming to 
lunch with us on Saturday on her way to Coblenz. 

I have a cold these last days, and Victoria is still 
confined to the house with her swelled neck. She 
had quite lost her appetite, and I tried some porridge 
for her, which she enjoys, and I hope it will fatten 
her up a little, for she is so thin and pale. Would 
you please order a small barrel of oatmeal to be 
sent to me ? Dr. Weber thinks it would be very 
good for Victoria, and one cannot get it here. 

Darmstadt, November 20th. 
It is with the greatest interest that I read about the 
Mausoleum,'^' as I was very anxious to know whether 
all would be finished. Having been present before 

* The Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore. 



214 PRINCESS ALICE. 

at all the important steps in the progress of this un- 
dertaking, I feel very sorry to be absent at the last, 
and I shall be very impatient to see it all again. 

Winter has quite set in now here, and when there 
is no wind the cold is very pleasant. 

Darmstadt, December 4th. 

Thousand thanks for all your dear kind wishes, 
for your first letter to me, for the one to Louis, and 
finally for the eatables ! I can't tell you how touched, 
how pleased we both are at the kind interest all at 
home have shown us on this occasion. It has really 
enhanced our pleasure at the birth of our little son, 
to receive so many marks of sympathy and attach- 
ment from those in my dear native home, and in my 
present one. My heart is indeed overflowing with 
gratitude for all God's blessings. 

The time itself w^as very severe, but my recovery 
is up to now the best I have ever made, and I feel 
comparatively strong and well. 

The girls are delighted with their brother, though 
Victoria was sorry it was not a sister. Darling 
Louis was too overcome and taken up with me at 
first to be half pleased enough. Baby is to be called 
by Louis' Uncle Louis' wish, Ernst Ludztng, after a 
former Landgrave ; * then we would like you to give 
the name Albert ; Charles, after my father-in-law ; 
and Williain, after the King of Prussia, whom we 
mean to ask to be godfather. The christening is 
most likely to be on the 28th, or thereabout. 

I am on my sofa in my sitting-room with all your 
dear photos, etc., around me, and your pretty quilt 
over me. 

December 12th. 

* "" ''' Every new event in my life renews 

* Who died on the 8th of November, 1825. 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 21$ 

the grief for dear Papa's loss, and the deep regret 
that he was not here to know of all, to ask advice 
from, to share joy and grief with, for he was such a 
tender father, and would have been such a loving 
ofrandfather. 

You, darling Mama, fill his place with your own, 
and may God's support never leave you, and ever 
enable you to continue fulfilling the many duties 
toward State and family ! The love of your children 
and people encircles you. 

Darmstadt, December i8th. 

% * =•■= The presents you intend giving baby 
will delight us, and in later years I can tell him all 
about his Grandpapa, and how I wish and pray he 
may turn out in any way like him, and try and aim 
to become so. 

I think it would be best, perhaps, if you asked my 
mother-in-law to represent you and hold baby. I 
think it would pain her, should any one else do it, 
and I will ask her in your name, if you will kindly 
telegraph me your approval. 

I am sorry Arthur cannot come, it would have 
given us such pleasure had it been possible. 

The greater part of baby's monthly gowns have 
been put away, as from the beginning they were too 
small. He is so very big. 

Christmas Day. 

* '"" * Louis thanks you thousand times, as 
we do, for the charming presents for the children. 
They showed them to every one, shouting: " This is 
from my dear English Grandmama" ; and Ella, who is 
always sentimental, added : " She is so very good, 
my Grandmama." Irene could not be parted from 
the doll you gave her, nor Victoria from hers. Baby 
was brought down, and was wide awake the whole 



2l6 PRINCESS ALICE. 

time, looking about with his little bright eyes like a 
much older child. 

We spent a very happy Christmas eve, surrounded 
by the dear children and our kind relations. 

Darmstadt, December 29th. 

% * * Prince Hohenzollern with three gentle- 
men were sent by the King, and the former dined 
with us after the ceremony. All went off so well, 
and baby, who is in every way like a child of 
two months, looked about him quite wisely, and 
was much admired by all who saw him. 

I am so sorry that you have never seen my babies 
since Victoria, for I know you would admire them^ 
they look so mottled and healthy. Weather 
permitting, baby is to be photographed to-mor- 
row. 



1869. 

The winter passed quickly and quietly amidst 
many occupations. 

In May the Prince and Princess, with their chil- 
dren, went on a visit to the Crown Prince and 
Princess of Prussia at Potsdam, where they spent 
four happy weeks. Whilst they were there, the 
Viceroy of Egypt paid a visit to Berlin. Later in 
the summer they went to Silesia, and spent some 
time at Fischbach, a property belonging to Princess 
Charles of Hesse, whose sister, the Queen of 
Bavaria, and brother. Prince Adalbert of Prussia, 
joined them there. During their stay, the Prince 
and Princess made excursions into the neighboring 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 21/ 

mountains, and ascended the Schneekoppe ; and the 
Prince and his brothers visited the battlefield of 
Konigsgratz. On the way back to Darmstadt they 
visited Dresden, to see the King and Queen of 
Saxony at their country seat, Pillnitz, an hour's 
drive from Dresden. 

In August, the King of Prussia for the first time 
personally inspected the Hessian troops. Thi". 
Prince commanded the troops at the manoeuvres 
in Upper Hesse, at the conclusion of which they 
paraded before the King of Prussia at Bergen. 

Some weeks later, the Prince and Princess of 
Wales and their family paid Prince and Princess 
Louis a visit at Kranichstein. The opening of the 
Idiot Asylum built by the Princess took place on the 
1 5th of October in her presence and that of the 
Prince. It had been arranged that Prince Louis 
should accompany the Crown Prince of Prussia on 
his journey to the East, on the occasion of the open- 
ing of the Suez Canal. He started on the 9th 
of October for Venice. The two Princes visited 
Corfu, Athens, and Constantinople, and were received 
with every possible honor in the capitals of Greece 
and Turkey. They went on to Jaffa, and thence to 
Jerusalem, Hebron, Damascus, and Baalbec, and 
finally, on the i5th of November, they arrived at 
Port Said, where they met a large number of other 
Princes. A journey up the Nile as far as the first 
and second cataracts brought their travels to an end. 
They returned home by way of Naples, and through 
Italy. 



21 8 PRINCESS ALICE. 

During the absence of the two Princes, the Crown 
Princess of Prussia and Princess AHce, with her 
little son, went to Cannes. Whilst there, the 
Princess devoted herself entirely to the care of her 
child. Being together with her sister, and in that 
sunny country, made up somewhat for the long sep- 
aration from her husband. The Princes joined the 
two Princesses at Cannes shortly before Christmas. 
The new year saw them all at home again. 

Darmstadt, January 8th. 

* * * Dear charming Lady Frances [Baillie] 
is on a visit with us, and I enjoy having her so much. 
We talk of old times at Frogmore, and so many 
pleasant recollections. 

I am glad that you like baby's photograph, though 
it does not do him justice. He is a pretty baby on 
the whole, and has a beautiful skin, very large eyes, 
and pretty mouth and chin ; but his nose is not very 
pretty, as it is so short at present. He is a dear 
good child, and, though immensely lively, does not 
give much trouble. He is a great source of happi- 
ness to us, and I trust will continue so. 

Darmstadt, January 13th. 

* '•' * Is not the death of Leopold's son shock- 
inof? * Such sufferinor, such a struesfle for months 
between life and death ; and for the poor parents to 
have in the end to relinquish their child, their only 
son! I think it heart-rending. May the Almighty 
continue to support them even now, as he did these 
many months ! I cannot say how much and truly I 
feel for them both. This world is full of trials, and 
some seem to be called upon to suffer and give up so 

* The only son and heir of the King of the Belgians, 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 2ig 

mu'ch. Faith and resignation alone can save those 
hearts from breaking, when the burden must be 
so heavy. 

A few days ago at two o'clock we had another 
shock [of earthquake], and it seemed as if the house 
rocked ; at the same time the unearthly noise. 
I think it uncommonly unpleasant, particularly this 
repetition. 

January 30th. 

Our thoughts and prayers are so much with you 
and dear Leopold on this day [his Confirmation]. 
May the Almighty bless and protect that precious 
boy, and give him health and strength to continue a 
life so well begun and so full of promise ! 

It seems to me quite incredible, the eighth of us 
should already be old enough to take this step in life, 
and to have his childhood in fact behind him. Dear 
Papa's blessing surely rests on him, and his spirit is 
near you as you stand there alone by the side of his 
child, about whom he always was so anxious. 

February 5th. 

'"■ ^^ " Beloved Papa's cast arrived a few days 
ago, and stands in my bedroom. I think it very 
beautiful, and thank you so warmly for having sent 
it me. 

Poor Orchard, whose leg is very painful and 
swelled, is to go to bed for a week for entire rest of 
the limb. You can imagine how inconvenient this 
is, as we have only Emma and Kathrinchen for the 
others and baby. You will be amused when I tell 
you that old Amelung is coming to sleep with baby, 
and take charge of him ; but she is too old and out 
of practice to be able to wash and dress him morning 
and evening besides, so I do that, and it is of course 
a great assistance to all, my being able to do it, and 



220 PRINCESS ALICE. 

I don't mind the trouble. Of a morning, as Louis 
is usually out riding- or at his office, I take Victoria 
and Ella out, who are very good little girls and 
very amusing. 

Darmstadt, March 8th. 

% * -"- We shall go to Potsdam the first week 
in May, and from there go for a week or ten days to 
Fischbach. My mother-in-law, Tante Mariechen, 
and Uncle Adalbert, are all going to spend my 
mother-in-law's birthday there. 

The Moriers are going to England in the first 
days of April, and I hope that you will see them. 
We see a good deal of them, and like them both 
much. He is wonderfully clever and learned, and 
takes interest in every thing ; and she is very 
agreeable, and a most satisfied, amiable disposition 
— always contented and amused. 

March 19th, 

I thought of you so much on the i6th. From that 
day dated the commencement of so much grief and 
sorrow ; yet in those days you had 07te, darling 
Mama, whose first thought and deepest was to com- 
fort and help you, and I saw and understood only 
then how he watched over you, and how and every- 
where he sought to ward off all that was painful and 
strange from you, and took all that pain alone for 
himself for your sake ! I see his dear face — so 
pale, and so full of tears, when he led me to you 
early that morning after all was over and said, 
" Comfort Mama," as if those words were a Vovbe- 
detttung [presage] of what was to come. In those 
days I think he knew how deep my love was for you, 
and that as long as I was left in my home, my first 
and only thought should be you and you alone ! 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 221 

This I held as my hoHest and dearest duty, until I 
had to leave you, my beloved Mother," to form a 
home and family for myself, and new ties which 
were to take up much of my heart and strength. 

But that bond of love, though I can no more be 
near you, is as strong as ever. 

Darmstadt, March 23d. 

•K- % * Yesterday it was very warm, and to- 
day it snows ; the weather continues so changeable 
and many people are ill. Ella has again had one of 
her bad attacks in her throat, but, thank God, it 
passed away very soon. Two nights ago she could 
not speak — barely breathe — and was so uncomfort- 
able, poor child. It makes one so anxious each 
time ; but I hope she will outgrow it, when she is 
six or seven years old. 

Victoria is already now composing a letter for 
your birthday. I won't have her helped, because I 
should like 3^ou to see her own ideas and style — it 
is much more amusing. 

March 26th, 

% % % "VVe had such an unexpected pleasure 
the other day in the visit of good General Seymour, 
and I was so pleased to see some one who had seen 
you lately, and who could give me news of my 
home. He had not been here since he came with 
us after our marriage, and was of course interested 
in seeing every thing. 

April 2d. 

% * * T\\^ constant anxiety about the chil- 
dren is dreadful ; and it is not physical ill one dreads 
for them, it is moral : the responsibility for these 
little lent souls is great, and, indeed, none can take 
it lightly who feel how great and important a parent's 
duty is. 



222 PRINCESS ALICE. 

Darmstadt, April 5th. 

* * * Thousand thanks for your dear letter, 
and for all the tender wishes for our dear child's 
birthday! The child born under your roof and 
your care is of course your particular one, and later, 
if you wish to keep her at any time when we have 
been paying" you a visit, we shall gladly leave her. 

Victoria is so delighted with what you sent her, 
and sends her very warmest thanks and her tender- 
est love. She is in great beauty just at present, as 
she is grown stouter ; and I look with pleasure on 
those two girls when they go out together. They 
possess, indeed, all we could wish, and are full of 
promise. May the Almighty protect them and 
give them a long life, to be of use and a joy to their 
fellow-creatures ! 

April 1 6th. 

% % -X- "R^a-in and wind have at length cooled 
the air, for this heat without any shade was too un- 
pleasant. Louis left at five this morning to inspect 
the garrison at Friedberg and Giessen, and then to 
go to Alsfeld to shoot Atierhdhne [capercailzies]. He 
will return on the 21st or 22d probably. 

We shall indeed be so pleased, if later you wish 
to have any of the granddaughters with you, to 
comply with any such wish, for I often think so sadly 
for your dear sake, how lonely it must be when one 
child after another grows up and leaves home ; and 
even if they remain, to have no children in the house 
is most dreary. Surely you can never lack to have 
some from amongst the many grandchildren ; and 
there are none of us, who would not gladly have 
our children live under the same roof where we 
passed such a happy childhood, with such a loving 
Grandmama to take care of them. 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 223 

April 25th. 

-jf * * May I only know the way to give my 
children as much pleasure and happiness as you 
have ever known to give me ! 

The dinner of family and suite is here in the 
house to-day — or rather I should call it a luncheon, 
as it is at two o'clock. 

The Irish Church question, I quite feel with you, 
will neither be solved nor settled in this way ; and 
instead of doing something which would bring the 
Catholics more under the authority of the State, 
they will, I fear, be the more powerful. It seems to 
me that one injustice (with regard to the Protestants) 
is to be put in the place of a former one, instead of 
doing justice to both, which would not have been 
an impossibility through some well-considered set- 
tlement and giving in on both sides. Such a change- 
ment requires so much thought and wisdom, and, 
above all, impartiality. 

May 3d. 

* * * My children are, on the whole, very 
well behaved and obedient, and, save by fits and 
starts, which don't last long, very manageable. I try 
to be very just and consistent in all things toward 
them, but it is sometimes a great trial of patience, I 
own. They are so forward, clever, and spirited, that 
the least spoiling would do them great harm. 

How glad I am that the dear Countess [Bliicher] 
is with you again ; she is the pleasantest companion 
possible, and so dear and loving, and she is devoted 
to you and dear Papa's memory as never any one was. 

Potsdam, May 25th. 
How much we thought of you yesterday, I can't 
say ! Lord Augustus Loftus lunched with us three 



224 FEINCESS ALICE. 

and the elder children ; and we drank your health, 
the band playing " God Save the Queen ! " All our 
girls had wreaths of natural flowers in honor of the 
day. 

Potsdam, June ist. 

'X- -X- * To-day is regular March weather, and 
the palace is cold and draughty. 

We were in Berlin yesterday, to visit the Gewerbe- 
Museum [Industrial Museum] ; then luncheon at 
Lord Augustus Loftus', and from thence to the' Vic- 
toria bazaar and Victoria Stift, and then home. 

It is always so tiring to see things at Berlin ; an 
hour's rail there and the same back takes so much 
time. Before returning, we paid a short visit to 
Baron Stockmar and his wife, who is very pleasing, 
and seems to suit him perfectly. They look as if 
they had always belonged to each other. 

Potsdam, June 13th. 
Our time here is soon drawing to a close, much to 
my regret ; for the life with dear Vicky — so quiet 
and pleasant — reminds me in many things of our 
life in England in former happy days, and so much 
that we had Vicky has copied for her children. Yet 
we both always say to each other, no children were 
so happy, and so spoiled with all the enjoyments 
and comforts children can wish for, as we were ; and 
that we can never (of course, still less I) give our 
children all that we had. I am sure dear Papa and 
you, if you could ever hear how often, how tenderly, 
Vicky and I talk of our most beloved parents, and 
how grateful we are for what they did for us, would 
in some measure feel repaid for all the trouble we 
gave, and all the anxiety we caused. I ever look 
back to my childhood and girlhood as the happiest 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 22 5 

time of my life. Tiie responsibilities, and often the 
want of many a thing, in married life can never give 
unalloyed happiness. 

We are looking for a governess for the two elder 
girls for next year, and a lady with the necessary 
knowledge and character, and yet of a certain rank, 
is so difficult to find. 

Potsdam, June 19th. 

Louis went two days ago to Fischbach for his 
mother's birthday, and returns to-morrow morning. 
Vicky was very low yesterday ; she has been so for 
the last week, and she told me much of what an 
awful time she went through in 1866, when dear 
Siggie [Sigismund] died. The little chapel is very 
peaceful and cheerful, and full of flowers. We go 
there en passant nearly daily, and it seems to give 
dear Vicky pleasure to go there. 

Vicky goes on the 7th of July to Norderney. 

Fischbach Schlesien, July 2d. 

We arrived here in this exquisitely-lovely country 
two days ago, and were received by our parents-in- 
law and Aunt Mariechen, whose guests we are in 
the pretty old Castle of Fischbach, surrounded by fine 
old trees, with a view on the beautiful Riesengebirge, 
which reminds me a little of Scotland, and also of 
Switzerland. The valleys are most lovely and 
the numberless wooded hills, before one reaches the 
high mountains, are quite beautiful. The trees 
are splendid and the country looks very rich and 
green. 

All the people of the village and the neighborhood 
came out to see us and our children, and old servants 
of Louis' grandparents, who were so delighted and 
pleased that I and my children should be here, and 



226 FEINCESS ALICE. 

that they should have lived to see the younger 
generation. 

We are out seeing the beautiful spots nearly all 
day long. The weather is fine and not very warm, 
so that one can go about comfortably. Yesterday 
we went over for tea to Erdmannsdorf. If only dear 
Vicky and Fritz were there now ! We must hope 
for another year to be there together. The parting 
from them, who had made our sejoiir under their 
hospitable roof such a very happy one, was very sad, 
and the pouring rain was in accordance with our 
feelings. We left them and dear lovely Potsdam 
and the pleasant life there with much regret, and 
many a blessing do I send back in thought to 
its dear inmates. 

Yesterday afternoon we were at Schmiedeberg. 
We went to see a very interesting carpet-manufac- 
tory, worked by hand, and all by girls, and a very 
simple process, much like making fringe, which you 
used to do and then make footstools of after 
Beatrice's birth. 

Yesterday our wedding-day — already seven years 
ago — made me think so much of Osborne, and 
of you, darling Mama, and of all that passed during 
that time. It was a quiet wedding in a time of much 
sorrow, and I often think how trying it must have 
been for you. 

Kranichstein, July 21st. 

Yesterday after eighteen hours' very hot railway 
journey, we arrived here all well. Many thanks for 
your letter, which I received at Dresden. It was im- 
possible to write, as I had to pay visits and to see 
things during those two days. 

The Crown Prince and Princess received us at the 
station ; the following day we paid our visits. I 



A T HOME AND A T WORK. 22/ 

found Marie ■^''' in bed looking very well, and her baby, 
tied up in a cushion, seemed a nice child. Her 
other children are very pretty ; the eldest girl is like 
George, and the little one has a quantity of fair curls, 
like Louis of Portugal's boy. In the afternoon 
of that day the King and Queen came to see us, and 
were very kind. She is very like the Queen Dow- 
ao^er of Prussia, her twin sister, and her other sister, 
Queen Marie, is very like her twin sister. Arch- 
duchess Sophie. As they are first cousins, and very 
fond ones, of my father-in-law, they consider them- 
selves of course as our aunts. 

I went to see the picture-gallery, which has some 
exquisite pictures, though the Sistine Madonna sur- 
passes all others, and the famous Holbein, of which 
the Dresden gallery has been for long so proud, is 
now recognized as a copy, and the one that belongs 
to my mother-in-law as the original. We visited the 
Griine Gewobel [the Green Vaults], where the 
magnificent jewels and other treasures are preserved, 
and the King was kind enough to lead us over the 
rest of the castle himself, including his own rooms, in 
one of which the life-size pictures of his last four 
daughters (all dead) stand, of whom he cannot speak 
without tears. How dreadfully he and the poor 
Queen must have suffered these last years ! 

Uncle Louis is at Friedberg and intends remain- 
ing there all next month, till the manceuvres are over. 
Alice Morier will accompany me. 

Kranichstein, July 25th. 
Thousand thanks for your kind letter which I 
received yesterday, at the same time that the beau- 
tiful christening present for Ernest arrived ! Thou- 

* Princess George of Saxony, Infanta of Portugal, who died in February, 
1884. 



228 PRINCESS ALICE. 

sand thanks for this most beautiful and precious gift 
for our boy, from Louis and from myselt ! We are 
so pleased with it ! It is to be exhibited here, and 
it will interest and delight all who see it, I am sure. 

I have just received a letter from Bertie, announc- 
ing his arrival here for the 28th. We shall be greatly 
pleased to see them all ; but we have so little room, 
and our house in town is all shut up and under 
repair, so that we shall have some trouble to make 
them comfortable and shall be quite unable to do it 
as we should wish. But I trust they will be lenient 
and put up with what we can offer. 

The heat is very great, though this place is com- 
paratively cool. 

Kranichstein, July 29th, 

Dear Bertie and Alix with their children arrived 
at Darmstadt after ten, and we brought them here 
by eleven o'clock last night. They are all looking 
well, but Bertie has shaved off his beard, which does 
not suit him. Dear Alix is unchanged, and cer- 
tainly no fatter. 

The children are very dear and pretty, but my 
boy is as tall as little Louise, and of course much 
bigger. I am so delighted to see them all again ; it 
is such a great pleasure, as you can well imagine. 

The pony you kindly sent us has just arrived, and 
to the ereat delight of all the children, who send 
their best thanks. We are all lodged very close 
together : Bertie and Alix, our bedroom and my 
dressing-room ; we both, my sitting-room, and the 
passage-room ; then come the different children. 
No gentlemen or ladies are in the house, as it was 
utterly impossible. 

Kranichstein, August nth. 

* ■» * Victoria has often ridden on Dred, and 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 229 

also the other girls, on a Spanish saddle, and he 
goes very well. They delight in him. Baby rolls 
about the room anywhere now, and tries to crawl 
properly. He calls Papa, and tries no end of things ; 
he is very forward, and is now cutting his fifth tooth, 
which is all but through. 

Friedberg, August 26th, 

On this dear day I must send you a few words. 
The weather is so beautiful, and the sun so bright, 
as it used to be at Osborne in former years. I don't 
care for the sun to shine on this day now, as it can't 
shine on Him whose day it was. It makes one too 
wehmiltJiig to think of darling Papa on those happy 
birthdays, and it must be more so for you than for 
any of us, poor Mama. 

Yesterday was Ludwigstag ; all the town deco- 
rated with flags, illuminations, etc., and English flags 
and arms with the Hessian everywhere. 

We started on horseback along the high road at 
half-past seven this morning, and did not get off till 
one. A lovely country and very interesting to see. 
To-morrow we shall have a very long march, and 
the night Alice Morier, I and William (Louis is un- 
decided) will spend at Prince Ysenburg's at Biidin- 
gen. The next morning we have to ride off at half- 
past five, and a long day back here. 

Kranichstein, September nth. 
■^ =^ "' What charming expeditions you must 
have made in that lovely country ? '^ What I saw 
of it some years ago I admired so intensely. You 
can well be proud of all the beauties of the High- 
lands, which have so entirely their own stamp, that 

* This refers to the Queen's stay at Invertrossachs, and the excursions to 
the neighborhood. These are described in " More Leaves from a Journal 
of a Life in the Highlands," pp. 116-147 (London, 1884). 



230 PRINCESS ALICE. 

no Alpine scenery, however grand, can lessen one's 
appreciation for that of Scotland. 

The day before yesterday we went to Mayence to 
see a " Gewerbe- Ausstellung'' [Industrial Exhibition] 
of the town, which was very good and tastefully 
arranged. From there we went to Frankfort to our 
palace, for a rendezvous with Aunt Cambridge, 
Uncle George, Augusta and Fritz Strelitz. I showed 
them the children, and afterwards, when our rela- 
tions left, we took our children to the Zoological 
Garden, which delighted them. 

Many thanks for the grouse, which has just 
arrived, the first since two years ago ! 

Darmstadt, October 3d. 
''^ * ^'' I am very glad that you also approve 
of Louis' journey, which I know will be so useful 
and interesting for him, though it was not possible 
to attain this without parting from each other, which 
is, of course, no small trial for us, who are so unac- 
customed to being separated. But we never thought 
of that when we considered the plan of Louis join- 
ing Fritz, which was my idea, as travelling in new 
countries is so good for a man, and Louis may never 
find so o'ood a chance ag'ain. I am looking forward 
very much to seeing Geneva- — where we spend a 
day — and the south of France, and above all, seeing 
the sea again. Fritz passes through here to-morrow. 
Louis starts Saturday morning, vici Munich, for 
Venice, where he will join Fritz next Sunday after- 
noon, and spend the following Monday there before 
they go to Brindisi, Vicky comes here with her 
children on the 12th or 13th, and a suite of twenty- 
five people. She goes on with the big boys to 
Baden, and I follow with the other children on the 
follov/ing day. I don't like separating Victoria and 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 23 1 

Ella, who like being together ; the three girls will be 
so well taken care of at their grandparents'. I have 
written down rules for meals, going out, to bed, to 
lessons, etc.; and my mother-in-law, who never 
interferes, will see that all is carried out as I wish. 
I shall miss them so much, but having one child at 
least is a comfort ; and baby is beginning to talk, 
and is so funny and dear, and so fond of me that he 
will be company to me when I am alone. I take no 
one but Orchard, Eliza, Beck, and my Haushof- 
7ncister [Steward], who used to be with Lord Gran- 
ville. 

Darmstadt, October nth. 

Yesterday morning at eleven we had the hard 
separation from each other, which we both felt very 
much. My own dear, tender-hearted Louis was 
quite in the state he was in when we parted at 
Windsor in i860 after our engagement. He does 
not like leaving his children, his home, and me, and 
really there are but few such husbands and fathers 
as he. To possess a heart like his, and to call it my 
own, I am ever prouder of and more grateful for 
from year to year. Nowadays young men like 
Louis are rare enough, for it is considered fine to 
neglect one's wife, and for the wife also to have 
amusements in which her husband does not share. 
We sisters are singularly blessed in our husbands. 

Dear kind Countess Bliicher has been here the 
last two days — such a happiness to me just now, for 
the house feels far too lonely. 

Grand Hotel, Cannes, November 5th. 
**•?:- J have this instant received another 
letter from dear Louis from Constantinople, giving 
the accounts of what they did and saw there until 



232 PRINCESS ALICE. 

the 29th ult, when they left for Jaffa. He seems 
dehghted, and very greatly interested with all he 
has seen. Louis thouo-ht so much of the Sultan's 
English visit in 1867, on seeing him again. He 
found him more talkative than then. He saw also 
several of the suite who were in England. They 
went to Scutari, into the Black Sea, and visited all 
in and near Constantinople, and on the last day they 
visited the Emperor of Austria, who had just arrived. 
There is something very funny in hearing of these 
Royalties, one after another, all running to the same 
places. They must bore the Sultan considerably. 

This journey will be of great advantage to dear 
Louis, who has never had an opportunity (through 
marrying so young) of travelling like others. 

This afternoon we went to see poor Princess Wal- 
deck. She is still in ereat Q-Hef at the loss of her 
eldest dauQ:hter, who suffered so long", and knew she 
was dying, and bore her lot with such resignation 
and such goodness. She was only fifteen and a half, 
I think. 

I was very much pleased to see Lord and Lady 
Russell again the other day. We hope to be able 
to pay them a visit at San Remo, though one can't 
go and return in the same day. 

The country has looked too lovely to-day ; the 
sunset is always most beautiful, for it sets behind the 
Esterel Mountains, which lie to the right from this 
bay, and have a very lovely jagged form. 

I am reading to Vicky a new Life of Napoleon, 
by Lanfrey, which is very well and impartially 
written. 

Cannes, December 14th. 

* "' '■'■■ The heavenly blue sea, stretching so 
far and wide, is in accordance with one's feelings, 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 233 

and the beauties of nature have always something 
comfortincr and soothino-. "* * - 

The Duke of Argyll's sister, with his pretty 
daughter, Victoria, are here, and we have been twice 
to see them, and are distressed that they should be so 
anxious about the dear Duchess, of whom the news 
to-day is worse. How dreadful, should any thing 
happen to her, for her husband and for the many 
children ! 

The Eburys and Lord Dalhousie have likewise 
arrived here, but we have not seen them yet. 

To-morrow we had intended leaving this, but 
during the night poor Vicky had the dreadful fright 
of Waldie's being taken ill with the croup. Thank 
God, he is better this morning, but our journey will 
have to be put off for a few days, so that Vicky can- 
not now reach Berlin in time for Christmas. As we 
don't wish to spend that day en route, we have tele- 
graphed to our husbands, who reach Naples to-day, 
to ask whether they will not join us here, that we 
may all spend Christmas together before leaving. 

This is all unsettled, and I will telegraph as soon 
as every thing is definitely arranged. RoUet '"" is 
here to-day, and spends this day in quiet with us. 

Cannes, December 20th. 

We both had the happiness yesterday of receiv- 
ing our dear husbands safe and well here after so 
long a separation. They had been to Naples and 
Pompeii, and Louis went for a day to Rome, so that 
he has seen an enormous deal, which is very in- 
structive for him, and will be such a pleasure for 
him to look back upon in later years. 

I am so glad that Louis has had the opportunity 

* Madame RoUande, formerly the Princess' French governess. 



234 FRIA^CESS ALICE. 

of making' this journey ; and it seems to have done 
his health good also, for he looks very well. 

The journey back is so long and difficult for me 
to manage alone with Louis — ^as Vicky's people, 
particularly in the nursery, have helped mine — that 
I am obliged to wait until the 26th, and to go with 
Vicky and Fritz, for they travel slower than I would 
do if I went with Louis, who goes back direct day 
and night. The doctor would not consent to my 
travelling with Ernie from this warm climate into 
the ereat cold so fast, and durinsf the nicjht, for he is 
cutting" four back teeth at this moment. 

The day before yesterday we visited Lord Dal- 
housie and Lady Christian, and found him very 
gouty, but in good spirits. Lady Ebury and Oggie* 
came to see us this afternoon. Prince and Princess 
Frederic of the Netherlands and their daughter have 
arrived here. The poor Princess is so weak, and 
looks like a shadow. 

Hotel du Jura, Dijon, December 2Sth. 
Just as we were leaving Cannes your last 
letter reached me, for which many thanks. It was 
cold the morning we left Cannes, very cold at 
Avignon, where we spent the night, and still colder, 
and snow and frost, on reaching this place yesterday 
evening. We and the children are all well, and the 
poor little ones are very good on the journey, con- 
sidering all things. Li an hour we leave for Paris, 
rest there to-morrow, and then go to Cologne, where 
I shall take leave of dear Vicky and Fritz, and go 
straight home. I have been so much with dear Vicky 
this year, that the thought of parting from her costs 
me a great pang, the more so as I do not think it 
likely that I shall meet her in this new year. 

* Miss Grosvenor, Lady Ebury's daughter. 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 235 

On New Year's eve I arrange a Christmas-tree 
for all my children, and in advance I thank you for 
all the presents you have been kind enough to send 
us, and which we shall find at Darmstadt. * * * 



1870. 

At the beginning of this year, and soon after his 
return from the East, Prince Louis was laid up with 
scarlet-fever, and, soon after, Princess Victoria and 
the little Prince took the same illness. Though the 
attack was a severe one, all made a good recovery, 
and no ill effects remained behind. Princess Alice 
undertook the nursing entirely herself. During this 
time of enforced seclusion from the social world her 
intercourse with the famous writer and theologian, 
David Friedrich Strauss, was a source to her of great 
interest and enjoyment. 

The Princess became acquainted with this remark- 
able man in the autumn of 1868 at her own particular 
desire, and after considerable hesitation on his part. 
Strauss had spent the winter of 1866 at Darmstadt. 
He returned there again in the spring of 1868, and 
remained there until the autumn of 1872. His own 
account of his acquaintance with the Princess was by 
her wish not published at the time, but has been 
since, with the consent of his family and that of the 
Grand Duke. From this the following narrative is 
taken almost verbatim : 

" Although I was entirely unaccustomed to asso- 



236 PRINCESS ALICE. 

date with persons of high rank, I soon felt entirely 
at ease with this lady. Her simplicity, the kind man- 
ner in which she met me, and her keen brio^ht intel- 
lect made me forget all differences of social position." 

Strauss visited the Princess very often, and their 
conversations lasted sometimes for hours. He him- 
self speaks of them as " most delightful and re- 
freshinof." 

Very often they read aloud, and this no doubt led 
to a suggestion from Strauss, that he should write 
down notes about Voltaire — whose works they were 
studying — and afterward read them to the Princess. 
She entered readily into this plan. " Her idea was 
to have a select circle of listeners. Besides herself 
and one of her ladles, with whom she was very in- 
timate, Prince Louis, and the English Minister then 
at Darmstadt, Mr. [now Sir Robert] Morier, were 
to be present." The illness of Prince Louis pre- 
vented this plan from being carried out. 

" She, however, asked me," Strauss writes, '* to 
come and see her, if I was not afraid of infection. 
She said that the next few weeks would be very soli- 
tary ones, and it would be of great value to her if I 
felt disposed to put up with her as sole audience for 
my lectures on Voltaire. To this I was only too 
willine to asree." 



'& 



The manuscript took the form of seven lectures, 
and the author was rewarded for his pains " by the 
keen interestand unwavering attention of his listener." 

After repeated revisions, the printing of the work 



A T HOME AND A T WORK. 237 

on Voltaire began. Strauss gives his own account 
of this in the following extract : — 

" When it first occurred to me to write something 
on Voltaire for the Princess in the form of lectures, I 
naturally cherished the hope that, when the little 
book was printed, I might obtain her permission 
to dedicate it to her. As the work progressed, how- 
ever, this hope became fainter, and by the time the 
book was ready I had entirely given it up. 

" I could only take pleasure in my work, if I felt 
I had been perfectly sincere ; if, instead of condemn- 
ing Voltaire, as is usually the case, I stood up for 
him upon essential points — nay, even went so far as 
to intimate that here and there he had seemed to me 
not to have gone far enough. 

"The Princess might naturally have scruples 
about allowing a book of such a tendency to be 
dedicated to her, considering her position and what 
was due to it ; and to ask her to allow the book to 
be dedicated to her seemed forbidden by that dis- 
cretion which I was bound to observe. The thousfht 
then struck me of writing with my own hand into 
the copy of the book which I gave her the Dedica- 
tion, in the terms in which it now stands printed on 
the second page of the volume. Meanwhile, on the 
one hand, the friendly intercourse with the Princess 
continued, whilst on the other the printing of the 
book advanced. One day in the most kind manner 
she told me how much she felt she owed to our ac- 
quaintance, and how much it had helped to clear her 
views in many ways. I, on my part, expressed to 
her in all sincerity the animating and exhilarating 
influence which our intercourse had exercised upon 
myself, and, in particular, how it had cheered and 
encouraged me in my labors on Voltaire. 



238 PRINCESS ALICE. 

" ' It would be nice, if you would dedicate your 
book to me,' the Princess rejoined. How agreeably 
surprised I was can easily be imagined. I acknowl- 
edged without hesitation how this had been my first 
intention, but that I had given it up out of regard 
for her, not wishing to expose her to misinterpreta- 
tion. The Princess replied that the fear of being 
misunderstood would never prevent her from doing 
what she thought right. I pointed out, that the 
matter must be well and carefully considered, and 
that, first and foremost, she must obtain her hus- 
band's consent. Her answer was that she had no 
fear on that point; but that she would of course 
consult him about it. I told the Princess that 1 had 
made several changes and additions since I first 
wrote the lectures. I would therefore bring her the 
proof-sheets as soon as they were ready, partly that 
she might glance over the whole again, and partly 
that she might draw the Prince's attention to any 
doubtful passages. They would then be able to 
form their own opinions. 

" I sent her the proof-sheets, and received them 
back from the Princess on the nth of June, 1870, 
with the followlnof letter : 

" ' Dear Herr Professor : — I return you your 
" Voltaire " with many thanks. My husband read 
through the fifth chapter of it yesterday ; he does 
not think that its contents are such as to justify my 
refusing the dedication. The value which I place on 
the dedication of your book will always be far 
greater than any little unpleasantness which might 
possibly arise from my accepting it. Alice.' 

" The dedication was thus unqualifiedly accepted, 
but now — in what words should I put it } I had 



A T HOME AND A T WORK. 239 

got accustomed to the form in which I had meant to 
write it myself into the copy I wished to present to 
the Princess. I intended saying that I had written 
lectures for the Princess, and that she had allowed 
me to read them aloud to her. Would not this 
make the Princess, so to speak, an accomplice of 
this objectionable book ? Could I state this pub- 
licly ? I felt myself bound to leave to the Princess 
the choice between this dedication and a more formal 
one, in which these allusions were omitted. Upon 
this the Princess sent me the following answer : 

" ' I should not like any change made in what you 
have written on the first page, and am greatly 
touched at your kind dedication. Alice.' 

" When I was at last able to send her my book 
in its complete form with the dedication printed, I 
received the following note from her, written from 
Kranichstein, on the 27th of June, 1870 : 

" ' I have not been able till to-day to thank you 
for your "Voltaire " received yesterday. The book 
itself is the cause of the delay, as I devoted my 
spare time to reading over what you had yourself 
read to me so beautifully last winter. I seemed to 
hear your voice and all your observations again. I 
must thank you once more for that great enjoyment, 
and for the kind terms of your dedication. 

" ' Alice.' 

" Seldom have the negotiations about the dedica- 
tion of a book been carried on in a way like this, 
and seldom has a Royal Princess shown herself so 
couraeeous and amiable." 



*&>' 



All must agree in this opinion, from whatever 



240 PRIiVCESS ALICE. 

point of view they look at the subject. It was Hke 
the Princess' straightforward nature boldly to ac- 
knowledge to the world her friendship for Strauss, 
even at the risk of incurring the most unfavorable 
criticisms. 

Strauss says, further, in his " Memoirs " : 

" The memory of the Princess Alice will be insep- 
arably connected, as long as I live, with one of the 
most gratifying episodes of my life — the writing of 
my work on Voltaire." 

To this must be added that thouofh, as time went 
on, the Princess agreed less and less with Strauss' 
avowed religious views, and especially diftered con- 
siderably from those enunciated in his book, " The 
Old and the New Faith," she never thought other- 
wise of Strauss than with gratitude and esteem, as 
one in whom she had met with the most beautiful 
characteristics of the best German scholarship — viz., 
unflinching sincerity, combined with a rare gift of 
saying what it has to say clearly and pleasantly, and 
a winning modesty of personal demeanor. 

In the end of March the Prince and Princess with 
their family went to Mayence for change of air after 
the scarlet-fever. The Princess went much into so- 
ciety during her stay there ; but this did not prevent 
her from making use of every possible opportunity 
for furtherine those institutions which she had so 
much at heart. She visited the hospitals at Mayence, 
Offenbach, and Giessen, and had many consultations 
with the heads of these various hospitals with a view 
to possible improvements. 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 24 1 

The quiet, happy time at Kranichstein during the 
summer was suddenly brought to an end by the 
declaration of war between France and Germany. 
Prince Louis had to go to the front with his division, 
which, together with another division, formed the 
Ninth Army Corps, and part of the Second Army, 
commanded by Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia. 
The Princess took leave of her husband on the 2 5th 
of July. She, however, saw him again once or twice 
before the final leave-taking, on the ist of Augrust. 

On the 1 5th of Auofust the Hessian division for 

the first time encountered the enemy, before Metz, 

and on the i6th took part in the battle of Mars-la- 

Tour. During the terrible battle of Gravelotte, on 

the 1 8th of Auofust, Prince Louis and his division 

* ... 

occupied a central position in the irresistible force, 

which drove Marshal Bazaine back into Metz, and 

held him Imprisoned there with an iron grasp. 

On the 19th Prince Louis and the troops en- 
camped on the battlefield, and he had the pleasure of 
meeting his brother Henry. Prince Louis took part 
in the battle of Noisseville on the 31st of August, 
when General Manteuffel commanded the troops en- 
gaged. He and his division also formed part of the 
army investing Metz, partly doing outpost duty, and 
partly serving in the reserve. 

On the 8th of October, whilst the Prince was in 
command of his division at Gravelotte, where the 
troops were concentrated in hourly expectation of a 
sortie of the French from Metz, he received the 



242 , PRINCESS ALICE. 

news of the birth of a second son, who had been 
born on the 7th. 

Ever since the Prince's departure the Princess had 
remained " at her post " in Darmstadt, helping, com- 
forting, and advising all around her. She was proud 
to be the wife of a German officer serving in 
the field in such a cause, though her life for the 
present was full of anxiety and care. She worked, 
like any other woman, to alleviate as best she could 
the sufferings of the sick and the wounded, and giving 
aid to those who were plunged into destitution by 
the war. Whilst she was living with her children at 
Kranichstein the " Hidfsverein^' or Committee of 
Aid, had its headquarters in her palace at Darm- 
stadt. She herself went there every day, visited all 
the hospitals, also the ambulances at the railway sta- 
tion, and superintended the organization of " Com- 
mittees of Aid " all over the country. The Com- 
mittees which she had organized long previously 
now proved themselves an untold blessing. 

The " Alice Society for Aid to Sick and Wounded " 
had sixteen trained nurses ready for work at the be- 
ginning of the war. Through the voluntary help of 
some of the best doctors and surgeons, who arranged 
classes at different places for the Instruction of 
all those who were anxious to help to nurse during 
the war, the number of nurses was increased by 
degrees to one hundred and sixty-four. These were 
sent to the different hospitals in Hesse, to ambu- 
lances near Metz, to the hospital trains, and the hos- 
pitals on the steamers. 



A T HOME AND AT WORK. 243 

In her own palace the Princess arranged a depot 
for all. necessaries required for the sick and wounded. 
Later on another was established in the Grand 
Ducal palace.- Besides the many regular nurses, a 
number of women and ladies joined together to 
serve out refreshments, during the night as well as 
the daytime, to the wounded, who were constantly 
passing through Darmstadt and halted at the rail- 
way station. Similar committees were, thanks to 
the Princess' own initiative, formed all over the 
country. 

One of the hospitals at Darmstadt, erected by the 
English National Red Cross Society, and supplied 
with English surgeons, received the name of " The 
Alice Hospital." Under a special arrangement it 
was subsequently taken over by the Hessian military 
authorities. In this hospital, as in others established 
independently of the " Alice Society," women and 
girls of all classes lent their aid. 

Simultaneously with the aid to the sick and 
wounded, those who had been rendered widows, 
orphans, or destitute by the war were cared for 
through the Princess' exertions ; and " The Alice 
Society for the Education and Employment of 
Women " did good service. Out of this Society 
sprang the " Alice Lyceum," which was intended for 
the intellectual culture of women of the higher 
classes. Lectures were to be delivered in it on all 
the interesting subjects of the day. This Lyceum 
continued for some years to attract a more or less 



244 - ' PRINCESS ALICE. 

numerous audience. In the first winter of its exist- 
ence lectures on English and German Literature, the 
History of Art, German History, and Natural His- 
tory were given. The lady at the head of it was 
Fraulein Louise Biichner. Its subsequent failure 
was caused by numerous external difficulties, and 
not because the original idea for which it had been 
founded had proved otherwise than sound. 

The little new-born Prince continued to thrive, 
and the Princess made a comparatively quick recov- 
ery. The Crown Princess of Prussia, who was then 
living at Homburg, came constantly to see her sis- 
ter ; and later on, in November, they went together 
to Berlin. The christening of the little Prince, who 
was to bear the name of the victorious o^eneral of 
Weissenburg and Worth, was deferred till his 
father's return. 

Prince Louis had garrisoned Fort St. Privat on the 
29th of October, and saw the 173,000 French pris- 
oners and Imperial Guard pass before Prince Fred- 
erick Charles of Prussia. 

On the 30th the troops marched farther into the 
interior of the country. Troyes was reached on the 
loth of November, a few days later Fontainebleau, 
and soon after the troops confronted the " Army of 
the Loire" at Toury, The battle of Orleans took 
place on the 3d and 4th of December, and on the 
5th the victorious troops made the entry into the 
town. Part of the Hessian division moved alonof 
the left bank of the Loire, and fought the engage- 



A T HOME AND A T WORK. 245 

ment of Montlivault on the 9th of December ; the 
other part of it surprised and took possession of the 
Castle of Chambord, with five guns and many pris- 
oners. Blois was soon after taken ; and from the 
loth of December till the 14th of February, 1871, 
the headquarters were at Orleans. During the ex- 
pedition against General Chanzy the Hessian divi- 
sion alone guarded the line of the Loire from Gien to 
Blois. 

January 8th. 

* * * My three girls have had fearful colds — 
Ella bronchitis, which Ernie also took from her, and 
during twelve hours we were in the very greatest 
anxiety about him ; the difficulty of breathing and 
his whole state caused great alarm. Thank God, he 
is now quite convalescent ; but those were hours of 
intense suffering for me, as you can imagine. Weber 
is most attentive and most kind on such occasions, 
and in such moments one is so dependent on the 
doctor. 

% w * Some very good lectures have been 
given here lately, undertaken by a committee, which 
we are at the head of, and of which Mr. Morier is a 
member. They have been a great success hitherto, 
and we are going to one to-night by Kinkel, who in 
1848 was a refugee in England, and is now a profes- 
sor at Ziirich. 

January i6th. 

Beloved Mama : — We are very grateful for your 
kind enquiries, and for your letter received this 
morninof. The violence of the fever and the ereat 
pain in the throat have abated, and dear Louis is 
going on favorably. The nights are not good as 
yet, and his head pains him. 



246 PRINCESS ALICE. 

I am cut off from all intercourse with any one in 
the house, on account of the dear children ; and I 
trust they may escape, for they still cough, particu- 
larly Ella and Ernie. I see Christa when I am out 
walking, not otherwise, as she comes in contact with 
the part of the house where the children live. I 
read to Louis, and play to him, as my sitting-room 
opens into the bedroom. I keep the rooms well 
aired, and not hot, and at night I sleep on a sofa 
near his bed. The first two nights were anxious 
ones, and I was up all night alone with him ; but 
now, thank God, all seems to be going well. * "'^ * 

January 20th. 

I am happy to say that all is going on well. Louis 
has no more fever, but his throat is still far from 
well ; it has still the character of diphtheria, though 
in a mild form — a sort of skin and bits of blood come 
away when he coughs. He is a very good patient, 
and I leave him very little alone save when I take 
my walks, which in this high cold wind are very un- 
pleasant. I hear Ella is still so hoarse and coughs, 
and Victoria is not quite well. Orchard writes to 
me every evening, and Dr. Weber sees them in the 
morning before he comes downstairs. 

This instant Weber tells me that Victoria has the 
scarlet-fever, and I have just been up to see her. 
She suffers very much, poor child ; the fever is very 
hiorh and the rash much out. It is too late now to 
separate the others, and those who are not predis- 
posed will escape ; but those who are inclined to 
take it have it in them by this time. 

It is a source of great anxiety. Orchard and 
Emma have never had it. * * "^ 

January 23d. 

I was very glad to get your dear lines of the 2 2d, 



A T HOME AND A T WORK. 24/ 

full of sympathy for me during this anxious time. 
Victoria's fever has been very high ; and so much 
discomfort and pain, with a dreadful cough, which 
she has had for the last six weeks. She is very low, 
and cries every now and then from weakness, etc., 
but is a very good patient, poor little one. Ame- 
lung comes every afternoon and sits with her, and 
she is a great favorite with the children, as she 
knows countless pretty stories. 

Louis is not out of bed yet, on account of his 
throat, etc. ; but he is much better, though in this 
treacherous climate, which is so proverbially bad for 
throats and lungs, I fear that even with the greatest 
care there is a risk. 

The other children are as yet well, though I don't 
think Ella looking well ; she has still a cold, and is 
as hoarse as when I came home. Ernie is all 
rieht aeain, and looks the best of them all. I doubt 
their escaping, though it is quite possible, as they 
did not take it when Victoria did. I keep the 
rooms fresh and continually aired. 

All the balls and parties are going on here now. 
Of course, I can neither go anywhere nor receive 
any one, on account of the infection. It is a weari- 
some time indeed, and being so much in sick rooms 
and so little out begins to tell upon me. How kind 
of you to send the books! Louis will be delighted. 
I have just read to him Russell's book of Bertie and 
Alix's journey, and am now reading to him a new 
Life of Napoleon, by Lanfrey, which is very well 
written — more against than for Napoleon. Of 
course, newspapers and the Revue des Deux-Mondes 
I read to him besides. * * * 

January 31st. 

* * * Though dear baby has had two bad, 



248 PRINCESS ALICE. 

restless nights, yet I am happy to say that he has 
the illness so slightly, with so little fever or sore 
throat, that we are in great hopes it will get no 
worse. He is cutting his back teeth just now, which 
is the worse moment possible to be ill in. 

Victoria looks very hollow-eyed, pale, and 
wretched, poor darling, but is in good spirits now. 
The other two are as yet free. The weather is most 
beautiful — frosty and clear, — and I have been skat- 
ing daily for the last six days, which does me much 
good, and enables me to see people again. This 
afternoon I have a large party on the ice at Kranich- 
stein, and this is always a great amusement to the 
young people. * * * 

Mayence, April loth. 

* '''"■ * Yesterday evening we had to give a 
large party here, half to the military, and the other 
to the civil authorities and to the Burger [citizens]. 
It went off well ; but the amount of speaking, as one 
must speak to all, and the effort to remember who 
they all were — they having been all presented at 
once — was no small exertion. * * * 

Mayence, April 15th. 

* '""■ * Lady Car. [Barrington] wrote to me 
how very grateful Mrs. Grey was to you for your 
great kindness and consideration.* In trouble no 
one can have a more true and sympathizing friend 
than my beloved Mama always is. How many 
hearts has she not gained by this, and how many a 
poor sufferer's burdens has she not lightened ! * '^' * 

April 25th. 
Thousand thanks for your dear loving lines ! I 
kissed them a thousand times, and thank you so 

* General Grey, Her Majesty's private secretary had recently died. 



A T HOME AND A T WORK. 249 

much for the quite lovely statuette — a little gem, 
which every one has been admiring this morning. 
The shawl and little ornament eave me also great 
pleasure, and the colored photographs of the rooms 
— in short, all and any thing from such dear hands 
must give pleasure. * * * 

June 25th. 

* * '^ I am proud of my two girls, for they 
are warm-hearted and gifted, too, in appearance. 
Victoria's facility in learning is wonderful, and her 
lessons are her delight. Her English history and 
readings she has learned from me. I give her a 
lesson daily, and Bauerlein * can tell you how much 
she has learned. *^ "' * 

I read a great deal, chiefly history and deeper 
works ; and I have one or two very learned acquaint- 
ances with whom to read or to have books recom- 
mended by. 

My two committees always give me no end of 
work, and I have tried to have many improvements 
made in the girls' schools of the different classes ; 
and some of these things, by dint of a deal of trouble, 
are prospering, and I hope in time to come will 
prove their worth. There is a great deal to be 
done, and in the hospitals I have been able to get 
some very necessary changes made. I tell you all 
this, fancying it may perhaps interest you a little 
bit. ^^ * * 

July 2d. 

How grieved I am for your sake, above all, and 
for the poor Clarks and ourselves, that dear kind Sir 
James, that true fatherly friend, is no more ! ! Many 
thanks for your last letter, which tells me of your 
last visit to him, which I am sure must be a great 

* Miss Bauer the German governess of the Royal family. 



250 FRI ACCESS ALICE. 

comfort to you. Oh ! how sad to think how many 
are gone ! , And for you, dear Mama, this is quite 
dreadful. I can't say how I feel it for you ! 

Lord Clarendon's death grieves me much also ; 
and it was so sudden. Alice Skelmersdale wrote to 
me in the greatest distress ; he had been a most 
lovinof father. 

In the midst of life we are in death ; and in our 
quiet and solitary existence out here, where we see 
no one, all accords with sad and serious feelings, 
which, amidst the many people and worry you live 
in, must jar with such feelings and make you wish 
for solitude. The accounts you give touch me so 
much. Many thanks for having written so much 
about dear Sir James ; it is of great value to me. 
Louis begs me to say, how he shares the grief 
you all and we must feel at such a loss. 
f What you say about the education of our girls I 
entirely agree with, and I strive to bring them up to- 
tally free from pride of their position, which is iiothing 
save what their personal worth can make it. 1 1 read 
it to the governess — who quite enters into all my 
wishes on that subject — thinking how good it would 
be for her to hear your opinion. * '^ * I feel so en- 
tirely as you do on the difference of rank, and how 
all important it is for princes and princesses to know 
that they are nothing better or above others, save 
through their own merit ; and that they have only 
the double duty of living for others and of being an 
example — good and modest. This I hope my child- 
ren will grow up to. 

July 26th. 

When I returned home last night really heart- 
broken, after having parted from my good and ten- 
derly-loved Louis, I found your dear sympathizing 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 25 I 

words, and I thank you a thousand times for them — 
they were a comfort and pleasure to me 1 I parted 
with dear Louis late in the evening, on the high road 
outside the village in which he was quartered for the 
niorht, and we looked back until nothinof more was to 
be seen of each other. May the Almighty watch 
over his precious life, and bring him safe back again: 
all the pain and anxiety are forgotten and willingly 
borne if he is only left to me and to his children! 

It is an awful time, and the provocation of a war 
such as this a crime that will have to be answered 
for, and for which there can be no justification. 
Everywhere troops and peasants are heard singing 
" Die Wacht am Rhein " and " Was ist des Deut- 
schen Vaterland?" and there is a feeling of unity 
and standing by each other, forgetting all party quar- 
rels, which makes one proud of the name of German. 
All women feel ashamed of complaining, when 
father, husband, or son goes, and so many as volun- 
teers in the ranks. This war is felt to be national, 
and that the King had no other course left him to 
pursue with honor. 

I must be in town by nine o'clock : so much rests 
on me, and there are so many to help — the poor for- 
saken soldiers' families amongst others ! I have 
seen that all is ready to receive the wounded, and to 
send out help. I send out fourteen nurses for the 
Feld-Lazarethe [field-hospitals]. 

How much I feel for you now, for I know how 
truly you must feel for Germany ; and all know 
that every good thing England does for Germany, 
and every evil she wards off her, is owing to your 
wisdom and experience, and to your true and just 
feelings. You would, I am sure, be pleased to hear 
how universally this is recognized and appreciated. 



252 PRINCESS ALICE. 

What would beloved Papa have thought of this 
war ? The unity of Germany, which it has brought 
about, would please him, but never the shocking 
means ! 

July 28th. 

My darling Louis is at Worms, and Henry just in 
front of him. The enthusiasm all along the Rhine 
is wonderful. They are all hopeful, though knowing 
well what enormous sacrifices and struggles a victory 
will cost. 

I cannot leave this place until our troops should 
have — which God prevent ! — to retreat, and the 
French come ! Now is the moment when a panic 
might overcome the people ; and I think it my duty 
to remain at my post, as it gives the people courage 
and confidence. My parents-in-law, who have their 
three sons out, would feel my absence, and they 
have the first claim on me. I am in beloved Louis' 
home, and nearer to him, if I remain. Of course, 
with dear Vicky I should personally be far better off. 
But Fritz is not much exposed, and she has not that 
fearful anxiety to such an amount as I have for dear 
Louis, who, as commander of only a division, must 
be in the very midst of all. Day and night this 
thought is uppermost in my mind. I hope and pray 
for the best, and bear what is sent to me in com- 
mon with so many others. Work is a Zerstreuung 
[distraction], and I know dear Louis Avould prefer 
knowing me here for the present, and that must be 
the first consideration to determine my actions. 

Louis is well, and, now the dreadful parting is 
over, I am sure in better spirits, though work and 
anxiety weigh on him, poor love. 

The children send their love. I am pretty well ; 
able to do a great deal ; headache and sleeplessness 
are but natural at this moment. 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 253 

August 5th. 

Arrived in our house this morning, I was received 
with the news of dear Fritz' victory, and that 5oo 
French prisoners had just passed through here by 
rail. I know none of ours can have been engaged, 
but we have not heard if there was an eno;ao-ernent 
elsewhere. The excitement and anxiety are quite 
dreadful ! Please God, my darling is safe, and will 
pass safely through these dreadful dangers — and our 
many dear friends and acquaintances also ! I am 
always sending off things for the wounded from our 
stores, and continue working and collecting, and all 
are most patriotic and united. It is a solemn and 
great time we live in, and there is something grand 
and elevating in the unity of high and low through- 
out this great nation, which makes one proud of be- 
longing to it. If only all goes on well ! 

I am very sleepless, and never without headache, 
but one has neither time nor wish to think of one's 
self. My own Louis' safety is the all-engrossing 
thought; and I know, beloved Mama, that you love 
him truly, and share this anxiety with me. ^^ * * 

August 15th. 
A few words by messenger. I have sent a letter 
by Kanne, who came here yesterday, having seen 
dear Louis the day before, which was the first direct 
news I have had from him. Yesterday morning he 
was at Faulquemont. Poor General von Manstein 
(our Chef), when he reached Saarbriick, found his 
son had been killed, and he had him taken out of 
the general grave and buried in the churchyard. 
* * * No less than forty French wounded I saw 
this morning in our hospital, with some Turcos. 
Some can't speak in any known language, and the 
French dislike having these savages near them as 



254 PRINCESS ALICE. 

much as we do ; their physiognomies are horrid, 
and they steal and murder as Handwerk [their voca- 
tion]. 

So much croinof about — for I or-o to Darmstadt at 
half-past eight, and remain till half-past eleven, in 
the morning, and in the afternoon from five till 
eight — is getting very fatiguing to me ; but the 
people have no time to come out here, and there is 
much to see to, and many to speak with. 

August 19th. 

I have tried to write as often as I could, but I 
have only two hours to myself during the whole 
day, through driving in here twice a day. Besides 
the large Hiilfsverein for the '• wounded and sick," 
which is in our palace, I have daily to V4sit the four 
hospitals. There is very much to do ; we are so 
near the seat of war. This morning we got two 
large wagons ready and sent off for Pont-a-Mousson, 
where they telegraph from the battlefield of the i6th 
they are in great want. My best nurses are out 
there ; the others are in three hospitals : two of 
them — military ones — were not ready or organized 
when 1 5o wounded arrived a week ago. I have just 
had a telegram from dear Louis ; he is well, and I 
hope in a day or two the least dangerously of the 
Hessian wounded will arrive. 

Thank God, all goes on successfully ; but, indeed, 
I hope I shall not live to see another such war — it is 
too shocking by far. We have over five hundred 
wounded ; as soon as any are better, they are sent 
north, and worse ones fill the beds — French and 
German intermixed. I neither see nor smell any 
thing else but wounds! and the first Anblick [sight], 
which sometimes one does not escape meeting, is 
very shocking ! It was very late last night before I 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 255 

got home. I was stopped at one of the hospitals, as 
a poor soldier had had sudden violent bleeding, 
and was all but dead, as the doctor could not find 
the artery ; but I sent my carriage for another sur- 
geon, and I am happy to say he Hves and is recov- 
ering. 

As Louis commands the whole of our little army, 
a great many things concerning the troops come to 
me from all parts of the country, and there Is much 
to do — much more than in my present state Is good 
for me ; but It can't be helped. 

I drive back to Kranichstein by one daily, and am 
here again before five, so I hope you will kindly for- 
give my writing seldomer. Becker is engrossed with 
his duties at the Hlilfsvereln ; there Is no other gen- 
tleman with me, and I have the household to look 
after, besides. 

August 20th. 

My telegram will have told you that dear Louis Is 
until now safe. On the i6th. In the evening, and on 
the 17th and i8th, our troops were engaged, and 
yesterday evening late I drove to the station, to 
speak to General Kehrer, our commandant, and 
received a telegram of the last victory, near Metz — 
a battle of nine hours, very bloody — no mention of 
names. The people, all excited, crowded round my 
carriage, asked for news — which of our regiments 
had been under fire .'' I could tell them nothing, 
but pacified them, begglrjg them to go to their 
homes — they should hear as soon as I had news. I 
drove home with an aching heart, and passed a 
dreadful night of suspense. At six this morning a 
telegram from Louis (19th) ; he and his two brothers 
safe ; our loss enormous — seventy officers out of 
one division (ours is the 2 5th), and Oberlleutenant 



256 PRINCESS ALICE. 

Moller, a great favorite, his adjutant since 1866, very 
badly wounded. I went at once to Darmstadt to 
Louis' parents. They were so overcome and thank- 
ful to hear of the safety of their children. This con- 
tinual anxiety is fearful. Now to-day all the poor 
wives, mothers, sisters, come to me for news of their 
relations ; it is heart-rending ! We sent off two 
large wagon-loads to Pont-a-Mousson again with 
provisions, bandages, and medicaments, and mat- 
tresses to bring back all the wounded possible by 
rail. I went the round of the hospital, to have all 
the convalescent Prussians and French able to travel 
sent to their homes, so as to get room, and now we 
can await the sad arrivals. Oh, if it would but end ! 
the misery of thousands is too awful ! 

Kranichstein, August 25th. 

Many thanks for your dear words of the 20th. 
God knows, I have suffered much, and the load of 
anxiety is great ! But thousands of Germans bear 
this load in unity together for their Fatherland, and 
none murmur. Yesterday a poor woman came to me 
to ask me to help her to get to the battlefield, to have 
the body of her only son looked for and brought 
home ; and she was so resigned and patient. 

I see daily, in all classes, so much grief and suffer- 
ing ; so many acquaintances and friends have fallen ! 
It is heart-rending ! I ought to be z'(?rjj'/'r(??/<2f though, 
and I am so, too, to hear from the mouths of so 
many wounded officers -the loud praise of Louis' 
great bravery on the i6th and 18th. Always in 
front, encouraCTino- his men where the battle rasped 
fiercest and the balls fell thickest. He was near our 
troops, speaking to them, directing them, and right 
and left of him they fell in masses. This lasted 
eight hours ! 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 257 

* * * Hourly almost the trains bring in fresh 
wounded, and many and shocking are the sights one 
sees. I only returned here by one, having gone to 
town at half-past eight this morning, and have still 
three hospitals for this afternoon. 

My nurses reached the battlefield in time, and 
were of great use. Louis telegraphed (yesterday's 
date) from Auboue, between Thionville and Metz, 
where they remain in bivouac. * * * It is ten 
days since Louis has been in a bed or under a roof. 
They have no water (it is kept for the wounded), 
and little to eat, but he is very well. 

It is difficult to get news, and I can never send 
any that is not mostly ten days old ere it reaches 
him. 

August 26tli. 

* * * I had a telegram on the 2 5th from near 
Marengo, not far from Metz — all well. Louis has 
not been in bed or under a roof since the i6th, and 
it rains incessantly. I hope they won't all be ill. He 
writes mostly on cards, on the hilt of his sword, sit- 
ting on a box. They cook their own dinner, and 
on the 1 6th they were going to eat it, when orders 
came to turn the French left winof and 2:0 into battle. 
That night was awful, though the day of the i8th 
seems to have been the bloodiest ever known. Our 
wounded all tell me so. 

My dear parents-in-law bear up well ; but when 
we three get together we pour our hearts out to 
each other, and then tears which are full of anxiety 
will flow. 

Kranichstein, September 2d. 

I went early to Homburg, as no trains go regu- 
larly now. I went by road from Frankfort, and found 
dear Vicky well — her little baby very pretty and 



258 PRINCESS ALICE, 

healthy-looking ; the other dear children also 
well. 

How much we had to tell each other ! How much 
to be proud of, and how many friends and acquaint- 
ances to mourn over ! The few hours we had to- 
gether flew by in no time, and at Frankfort the train 
was unpunctual — outside Darmstadt it waited nearly 
an hour. At our palace, where I arrived at ten in 
the evening, people who were going to our Haup- 
quartier [headquarters], were waiting. I scribbled a 
few words to my dear Louis (the first since he re- 
ceived the Iron Cross, a great distinction) and packed 
a few things for him — tea, etc. 

September i5tli. 

Though I am still forbidden to use my eyes, I 
must send you a few words of thanks for your dear 
letter and telegram. I had a violent inflammation 
of eyes and throat, with two days strong fever and 
neuralgia. I am recovering now, but feel the effects 
very much ; my eyes are still bad, and it has reduced 
my strength, which I require so much. Dr. .Weber 
has just lost his sister (whom he treated in her con- 
finement) from puerperal fever, and he told me he 
thought he must have given it to her, from going to 
and fro to his wounded, for Lazarethfieber [hospital 
fever] and that were so closely akin. You can fancy 
that in Louis' absence, and with the prospect of be- 
ing alone, without even a married experienced lady 
in the house, this prospect frightened me. It is un- 
healthy at any time to be for one's confinement in 
a town full of hospitals with wounded, and Weber 
could never give me as much attention as at another 
time, and, should I be very ill, there is no authority 
to say any thing about what had best be done. On 
that account your telegram was a relief to me. 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 259 

September 20th. 

* * * Daily I hear the muffled drums of the 
funeral of some soldier or officer being" taken past 
my windows to his last resting-place. How deeply 
I do feel for the poor parents and widows ! 

My children are very well, but have absolutely no 
place where they can walk with safety from infection, 
for the mass of sick troops who get out and stop near 
the Exercirplatz [drill-ground], and the hospitals in 
town. The barrack at the foot of our garden con- 
tains 1,200 French prisoners, and many of them ill. 
It is much to be hoped that there will be soon an 
end to all these things. I feel for the Emperor and 
Empress very much. What ungrateful, vain, and 
untruthful people the French are ! To expose Paris 
to a siege, now their armies are beaten, which they 
think through fine speeches and volunteers they can 
set riorht acjain. 

September 22d. 

I received your letter through Kanne yesterday, 
and thank you many times for it; also for the little 
shawls and sash for Ernie. Every souvenir from 
dear Balmoral is a pleasure. 

Good Dr. Hofmeister will be very welcome, and I 
know he is very clever. Mrs. Clarke is sure to get 
on well with him, and an older doctor just now, be- 
sides being an acquaintance of so many years, is to 
me indeed a comfort. I shall be able also to hear of 
all at home, and of so many things that interest me. 
Thousand thanks from Louis and from myself for 
your sending him. '"' * * 

All long for peace — the army and the nation — 
and I think so great a national war as this need not 
require part of the foes' territory. What little is 
necessary for the military frontier they must take ; 



26o PRINCESS ALICE. 

but the union of Germany under one head is a far 
greater and finer end to such a war than the annex- 
ation of land ! 

* •:= "- War is the o-reatest scourore this world 
knows, and that we may not live to see it again, is 
my earnest prayer. 

October ist. 
% % -K- 'pj-jg children are all well, in spite of the 
bad air here. I send them out driving of an after- 
noon, when I can best, having only one coachman, 
as ours are with Louis. At present they can't manage 
it often. '""■ * ^ 

October 3d. 

* ♦ * ]3i-^ Hofmeister is to both of us a source 
of real confidence and comfort. I don't think anyone 
else would have been more welcome to me just now, 
and he can write daily to Louis, and letters go 
usually in two days now. 

I go as little as possible to the hospital now, 
and, indeed, do nothing imprudent, you can be 
sure. '"" * * 

November 12 th. 

* * * The nerves of my forehead and eyes 
are still painful ; and from all sides I am again called 
upon to look after, settle, and advise concerning 
many things. On that account Dr. Weber and my 
mother-in-law insist on my leaving Darmstadt for a 
total change of scene, etc., for three weeks. I have 
resisted as lonof as I could, as I so much dislike 
going from home now (though I do not feel up to 
the work, and yet cannot keep from doing it), but I 
have finally given in, and accepted Vicky's kind invi- 
tation to accompany her for three weeks to Berlin. 
The journey is long and cold, but her company when 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 26 1 

we are both alone is a pleasure to me, and I shall 
hear all news as directly there as here. 

* * * Last niofht I was much overcome. I had 
been sitting at the bedside of one of my poor young 
friends, and he was gasping in a too-distressing way. 
The father held his hand, the tears streaming down 
his cheek, the son was trying to say " Weine nicht, 
Papa " [" Don't weep. Papa !"]. The poor old father, 
so proud of his good and handsome child, is heart- 
broken, and they are touchingly united and full of 
feeling for each other. I would give any thing to 
save his life ; but all efforts will, I fear, be in vain. 
Though I have seen so many lately die hard deaths, 
and heard and seen the grief of many heart-broken 
widows and mothers, it makes my heart bleed anew 
in each fresh case, and curse the wickedness of war 
again and again. 

Poor baby can't be christened yet, as my parents- 
in-law think Louis would not like it during his ab- 
sence, so I shall wait. * ^'' * 

November 17th, 

* ^" * How I rejoice to hear that Leopold 
gains so much strength, and that he can be about 
again as usual. Will you kindly tell him in Louis' 
name and mine (as I am still restricted in all writing 
and reading) that we beg him tostandgodfathertoour 
little son ? '"'" Baby is so nice and fat now, and thrives 
very well. I think you would admire him, his fea- 
tures are so pretty, and he is so pink, and looks so 
wide-awake and intellio-ent. Ernie, who in eeneral 
is a rough boy, is most tender and gentle to his little 
brother, and not jealous. * * * 

* Prince Frederick William, the " Frittie " of tliese lettei-s, born the 6lh 
of the previous month of October, and who was killed by a fall from a win- 
dow on the 29th of May, 1873. 



262 PRINCESS ALICE. 

Berlin, December 5th. 

* * * Yesterday Fieldmarshal Wrangel came 
to see me, and his words were, "■ Zti gratidircn dass 
Ihr Mann ein Held ist, 7cnd sicJi so superb gesch- 
lagen hat" [" Accept my congratulations that your 
husband is a hero, and lias fouoht so magrnifi- 
cently "]. I am very proud of all this, but I am too 
much a woman not to long" above all things to have 
him safe home again. 

* * ■^'" The evenings Vicky and I spend alone 
together, talking, or writing our letters. There is 
so much to speak of and think about, of the present 
and the future, that it is to me a great comfort to be 
with dear Vicky. It is nearly five months since 
Louis left, and we lead such single existences that a 
sister is inexpressibly dear when all closer inter- 
course is so wanting! There is so much, beloved 
Mama, I should like to speak to you about. * * '''' 

The girls are quite well, and very happy with their 
grandparents. The governess — who in the end did 
not suit for the children — as the six months' trial is 
over, will not remain, and I am looking for another 
one. 

Darmstadt, December iSth, 

* * w 'pj^g children and I bore the journey 
well, and it was not cold. Parting from dear Vicky 
was a hard moment, and I shall feel the loneliness 
here so much, and miss my dear good Louis more 
than ever. The children are, of course, at such a 
time the greatest blessinof. There is so much to do 
for them, and to look after for them ; and mine are 
dear good children, and do not give over-much 
trouble. 

Letters I have again received speak of the 
amount of danger Louis has again been daily exposed 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 263 

to, and how his personal courage and daring have 
given the victory in many a fight. God protect him ! 
I live in fear and trembling for his precious life, and 
after I hear of his being safe through one battle, I 
take it as a fresh present from the Almighty, and 
breathe freer acrain, thouoh the fear soon enouo-h 
gets the upper hand again. 

I have asked Uncle Louis to allow his Berichte 
[reports] to be copied for you. Louis has Kohler 
and another footman with him, that is all — and two 
coachmen. He rides in all battles the horse you 
gave him in 1866, which he rode during that cam- 
paign, and which is quite invaluable. It would in- 
terest Colonel Maude to know this, as he bought 
the horse. My nursery is in very good order, and 
they are all invaluable in their way. 

How is good Dr. Hoffmeister's family ? Please 
say many kind things to him from me, and tell him 
that the baby is getting so nice and fat, and is so 
healthy in spite of all troubles. Here is a photo- 
graph of him, but not at all flattered. Please give 
Dr. Hofmeister one of them ! 

I have this instant received a letter from Louis 
dated the iith! I will have an extract made for 
you, I think it might interest Bertie to hear some- 
thing of Louis, whom he can be proud to have as a 
brother-in-law, for I hear his praises continually. He 
has been throughout the war, as every other Gen- 
eral has been, without a carriage, etc., like other 
Princes, and has gained the respect and devotion of 
his troops. 

Darmstadt, December 19th. 

M: % -;r I hope for this last time, if we are spared 
and live to come over together once more, we may 
have the joy of showing their dear Grandmama the 



264 PRINCESS ALICE. 

whole little band. Of course, no thoughts of plans 
can be entertained, and I know, after so very long a 
separation, Louis would not be willing again to part 
from his children. 

My wounded were so pleased to see me again 
yesterday. Alas ! many in bed, and so ill still ! My 
two in the house are much better, and the one who 
during six weeks lay at death's door is recovering. 
I have seldom experienced so great a satisfaction as 
seeing this young man recover, and the doctors say 
I have been the means of savino- his life. 

The joy of the old parents will be very great. 
Since I left, there are new widows, and fresh parents 
bereft of only children ; it is a most painful duty to 
go to them. But I know the comfort of sympathy 
is the only one in deep grief. 

December 23d. 

My warmest and tenderest thanks for your dear 
and loving letter, with so many expressions of a 
mother's love and sympathy, which do my heart 
good, now that I feel so lonely and anxious. It 
seems too great a happiness to think of, that of our 
being allowed to come with our children to you, and 
to Scotland ; and you know the smallest corner 
is enough for us, who are by no means particular — 
neither are our people. If I write this to Louis, it 
will be something for him to look forward to, to 
cheer him and reward him after so hard a time, 
which he bears so bravely and uncomplainingly. 
This morning I have been at the Alice Hospital, 
which is prospering. I have been taking my gifts 
for Christmas to one hospital after another. Your 
two capes have delighted the poor sufferers, and the 
one wounded for the second time is very bad, alas ! 
My wounded officer in the house is recovering, next 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 265 

to a miracle. For the two wounded in the house, 
the children, our household, and the children of our 
servants at the war, I arrange Christmas-trees. 

We grown-up ones of the family have given up 
keeping Christmas for ourselves. We have too 
much to do for others, and my parents-in-law, Hke 
me, feel the absence of the dear ones who are always 
here for Christmas. 

I am superintending Victoria and Ella's letters to 
you, which have not achieved the perfection wished 
for. As they are to be quite their own, I hope you 
will excuse their arrivinsf a little later. 

Darmstadt, December 27th. 

•5C- ^ .* Louis telegraphed on Christmas day 
from Orleans, where I had sent Christa's brother 
with a box of eatables and woollen things for his 
people, and a tiny Christmas-tree with little lights 
for the whole party. Louis has sent me a photo- 
graph of himself and staff done at Orleans, and I 
have sent for a copy for you, as it is very good. On 
Christmas day it was five months since Louis and 
the troops left. The charming stockings you sent, I 
have sent off in part to-day to Louis to give to his 
Stabsivache [Staff-guard] ; the other things I divide 
amono- the wounded and sick. 

My children are all well. The little one sits up, 
and, though not very fat, is round and firm, with 
rosy cheeks and the brightest eyes possible. He is 
very healthy and strong, and in fact the prettiest of 
all my babies. The three girls are so grown, partic- 
ularly the two eldest, you would scarcely know 
them. They are both very tall for their age. Vic- 
toria is the height of Vicky's Charlotte, and Ella not 
much less. They are thin, and a change of air 
would be very beneficial. 



266 FJilNCESS ALICE. 

187I. 

The christening of the Httle Prince took place 
quietly on the i ith of February, the child receiving 
the names of Frederick William. The sponsors 
were the Empress of Germany, the Crown Princess, 
Crown Prince, Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia, 
and Princess Alice's own brother, Prince Leopold. 
The ceremony took place in the absence of Prince 
Louis, who had been unable to get leave, although 
an armistice had been concluded on the 28th of 
January, which it was hoped would be the forerunner 
of peace. 

On the 1 8th of March the King of Prussia, who 
had meanwhile become Emperor of Germany, made 
his entry into Frankfort-on-the-Main, together with 
his son and his whole staff. The Grand Duke of 
Hesse and the members of his family received him 
there. 

Prince Louis at last obtained ten days' leave of 
absence, and arrived at Darmstadt on the 21st of 
March. The parents of the Prince had gone to 
meet him and his brother William a few stations 
beyond Darmstadt, whilst the Princess Alice awaited 
her husband at the Darmstadt railway station. The 
joy and thankfulness of that meeting can well be 
imagined. Darmstadt was gaily decorated in honor 
of the Prince's return ; and he met with an enthusi- 
astic reception. 

Prince and Princess Louis were present at Berlin 
on the 1 6th of June at the triumphal entry of the 



A T HOME AND A T WORK. 267 

German troops on the conclusion of the peace. On 
the 2 1 St of June the Prince entered Darmstadt at the 
head of his Hessian division. In spite of pouring 
rain, the town presented a most festive appearance. 
Later on the Prince and Princess and their children 
went to Seeheim (near Darmstadt), where her 
brother, Prince Alfred, visited them on his return 
from his three years' voyage round the world. The 
Prince and Princess of Wales also paid their sister a 
visit ; and Prince and Princess Louis saw much of 
their Russian relations, who were then staying at 
Jugenheim. 

In August, the family went to the seaside at 
Blankenberghe, where they spent three weeks, and 
afterward went to London. They arrived at Bal- 
moral on the 13th of September, on a visit to the 
Queen, whom they found suffering severely. They 
stayed with her till the ist of November, but the 
children, who had caught the whooping cough, were 
sent to London sooner. Whilst at Sandringham, to 
which the Prince and Princess went on their way 
back from Balmoral, in the middle of November, the 
Prince of Wales was taken ill. Prince Louis had to 
return to Darmstadt, but the Princess remained in 
England, and shared the anxieties of the very dan- 
gerous and protracted illness of her brother, whom 
she helped to nurse. It was the same terrible fever 
(typhoid) which, ten years before, had ended the life 
of the beloved Prince Consort, and it was so severe 
that the worst was feared. Prince Louis returned 



268 PRINCESS ALICE. 

to England on the very day when the danger was 
greatest, but he also was able to share in the joy and 
thankfulness when improvement set in upon the 
14th of December. He remained over Christmas, 
and returned to Darmstadt before the year was at 
an end. 

Darmstadt, January 7th. 

* * * In England people are, I fear, becom- 
ing unjust toward the German troops. Such a long 
and bloody war must demoralize the best army ; and 
I only say, in such a position how would the French 
have behaved ? Many French officers say the same, 
and how gready they respect the German soldier. 
Hundreds of French officers and two generals have 
broken their word of honor, and run away. I doubt, 
whether ojie in the German army would do such a 
thing. The French peasants, often women, murder 
our soldiers in their beds, and the wounded they 
have used too horribly many a time. Is it a wonder, 
then, when the men let a feeling of revenge lay hold 
of them } A guerilla war is always horrid, and 
no words can say how all Germans feel and de- 
plore the present phase of the war ! I hope and 
trust that the end may not be far distant. 

One of the poor wounded soldiers whom I gave 
your cape to is dying, and the poor boy won't part 
from it for an instant, and holds it tight round him- 
self. 

Louis continues at Orleans, where they have en- 
trenched themselves, and await with impatience 
news from Paris which must be of great influence 
for the continuation or ending of the war. 

My days fly past. The children take much of my 
time — so, too, the house, my two wounded in the 



A T HOME AND A T WORK. 269 

house, and the hospitals, to one of which I go 
daily. 

Darmstadt, January 14th. 

■5S- * "! j^ow kind of you to work something 
for Louis ; he will wear it with such pleasure. Prince 
Frederick Carl's recent victories "" and the fresh 
hosts of prisoners must help to bring the war to an 
end. Germany does not wish to go on, but the 
French won't see that they are beaten, and they will 
have to accept the visitors, who must increase in 
numbers the longer the French refuse to accede to 
the German demands. 

I am so low, so deeply grieved for the misery en- 
tailed on both sides, and feel for the French so 
much. Our troops do not pillage in the way 
described in English papers. I have read far 
worse accounts of what the French soldiers and 
frajics-tireurs do in their French villages. 

The poor soldier who had your cape is dead. He 
died with it round him. I was with him in the after- 
noon, and he had tears in his eyes, and was very 
low. In the night he died. This morning I was at 
the station to give things to the wounded and sick 
who came through — a sorry sight. This afternoon 
I am going to a poor soldier's widow who has just 
had twins. The distress on all sides is great. I 
help where I can. Becker tears his hair. The two 
wounded in the house cost so much. So does every 
thing else ; but as long as I can, through sparing on 
myself, help others, I must do it — though I have, as 
things now are, nothing left. 

I will get a head of Ernest done for your brace- 
let, and another one, so that you may have some- 
thing else of him. He is a magnificent boy, but so 

* On the loth, nth, and 12th of January, 1871, before Le Mans. 



270 PRINCESS ALICE. 

huge— such limbs ! The baby is not at all small, 
but near Ernest all the others look small. 

He can't speak properly yet, but he understands 
every thing", and has a wonderful ear for music. He 
sings the " Gttten Kaineradcn" without a fault in the 
time, and is passionately fond of dancing, which he 
also does in time. 

Irene is ori'owing: fast also, but the two eldest are 
quite big girls ; it makes me feel old when I see them 
growing up to me so fast. Victoria has a very en- 
quiring mind, and is studious, and learns easily and 
well. Since the middle of December I have been 
without a croverness. 

To-morrow I go to Mayence to see poor Wolde- 
mar'"' Holstein's sister. He is very bad, to the grief 
of all Mayence, and of all who know him. 

Darmstadt, January i6th, 
-"■■ * * It is pouring and thawing — most dismal 
— and my thoughts are with our dear ones and our 
poor troops far away. Becker lost his brother-in- 
law, who leaves a wife (Matilda, Becker's sister) and 
four little children. Each day fresh losses. 

My little baby ought to be christened, but Louis 
and my parents-in-law always hope that the end of 
hostilities is near, and that Louis can then get leave. 
Baby's blue eyes are beginning to turn, and look al- 
most as if they would be brown. Should dear 
Grandmama's and Grandpapa's eyes come up again 
amongst some of the orrandchildren, how nice it 
would be ! 

I have but little news to give. I go about to the 
poor soldiers' widows and wives— no end of them, 
with new-born babies, in the greatest distress. 

* Prince Heniy Charles Woldemar of Schleswig-Holstein, Governor of 
the Fortress of Mayence. He died on the 20th of January, 1S71. 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 2/1 

Yesterday I saw the mother of the poor young 
soldier who died. She keeps your cape as a precious 
relic, as it had given him such great pleasure. 

January 30th. 

Your charming photograph and kind letter arrived 
this morninof — thousand thanks for both ! How like 
the photograph, and how pleasing ! I am so glad to 
have it. 

The armistice and capitulation of Paris are great 
events. The people are out of their minds with joy 
— flags all over the town, and the streets crowded. 

I forgot to say in my last letter how grieved I was 
about Beaty Durham's '^ death. It is quite shock- 
ing ! and those numbers of children in so short a 
time. I earnestly hope none of us run such a chance, 
for on the whole our children have not been so close 
together. My last came sooner than I wished, and 
is smaller than his brother, but I hope now for a 
long rest. I have baby fed, besides, so as not to 
try my strength. He is very healthy and strong, 
and is more like Victoria and my brothers and sisters 
than my other children, and his eyes remind me of 
Uncle Ernest's, and seem turning brown, which 
would be very pretty, as he is very fair otherwise. 

Your pretty photograph is standing before me, 
and makes me quite absent. I catch myself con- 
tinually staring at it, instead of writing my letters. 

Darmstadt, February 2d, 
* * * All the many French here are pleased 
at the capitulation of Paris, and hope that peace is 
certain. Louis writes to me that the inhabitants of 
Orleans were equally pleased, and consider the war 
over. I earnestly pray it may be so. How greatly 
relieved and thankful all Germany would be ! 

* Daughter of the Duke of Abercorn. 



272 PRINCESS ALICE. 

Louis telegraphed to-day. He has no leave as 
yet, though he hopes for it. Now that there is a 
prospect of peace, and that the fighting is momenta- 
rily over, I feel quite a collapse of my nerves, after 
the strain that has been on them for six whole 
months. I can scarcely imagine whatit will be when 
my beloved Louis is at home again ; it seems too 
great 7\.]oy\ Rest and quiet together are what I 
long for ; and I fear in the first weeks he will have 
so much to do, and there will be much going on. 

He speaks with the greatest hope of going to 
Scotland this autumn ; and, if we are spared to do 
so, it will be such a rest, and do good to our healths, 
which must feel the wear and tear sooner or later. 

February nth. 

Many thanks for your last kind letter. I thought 
so much of you yesterday, spending the dear loth 
for the first time again at Windsor. To day our 
little son is to be christened, but only the family will 
be present, and my ladies and the two wounded gen- 
tlemen, who can get about on crutches now. When 
I think that the one owes his life to being here, it 
always gives me pleasure. 

Two nights ago I was awakened by a dreadful 
noise, the whole house and my bed rocking from it ; 
and twice again, though less violently. It was an 
earthquake, and I think too unpleasant. It fright- 
ens one so ; the doors and windows rattle and shake. 
To-night two slight shocks, and one during the day 
yesterday. 

How I shall miss dear Louis to-day ! The seven 
months will be round ere we meet, I fear, and he 
has never seen his dear little boy. It always makes 
me sad to look at him, though now I have every 
reason to hope — please God — that I shall have the 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 2/3 

joy of seeing Louis come home, and of placing his 
baby in his arms. My heart it full, as you can fan- 
cy, and, much as I long to see Louis, I almost dread 
the moment — the emotion will be so great, and the 
long pent-up feelings will find vent. 

1 pray that peace may be restored, and that I may 
not live to see sicch a war again, or to see my sons 
have to go to it. 

I will tell Christa to write an account to you of the 
christening, for Leopold to see also, as he will be 
godfather. Frederic William Augustus (after the 
Empress) Victor (victory) Louis will be his names. 
Fritz and Vicky, the Empress and Fritz Carl, are 
godparents. 

Darmstadt, February 14th. 

My bad "eyes must again excuse the shortness of 
these lines, which are to thank you many times for 
your last dear letter. 

Christa will have sent you the account of little 
Fritz's christening, which was a sad day for me, and 
will have been so for dear Louis likewise. We have 
added dear Leopold's name to the other, as his sad 
life, and the anxiety his health has so often caused 
us all, endear him particularly, and we hoped it 
would give him pleasure, poor boy. 

The elections in the provinces are all for peace, 
and only the towns for war and a republic. This 
week is one of intense and anxious expectation ; 
though the greater portion believe in the restoration 
of peace, yet we have no security for it. 

March 6th, 
■K- % * Now dear Louise's marriage draws 
near, how much you must feel it ! I think so much 
of her, of your and of my dear home. I trust she will 



274 PRINCESS ALICE. 

be very happy, which with such an amiable young 
man she must be. 

Louis has received the Order "■ Po2ir le merite,'' 
which I am so glad of for him. The Emperor tele- 
graphed the announcement to my mother-in-law, 
with many complimentary words about her sons. To 
have the three sons safe is somethingf to be thankful 
for, for they were much and continually exposed. I 
know nothing of Louis' coming. The troops march 
home, and it will take at least six weeks. I hope so 
much that he may have leave for a fortnight, and then 
return to the troops, to lead them home. 

To-night are the peace illuminations here, which 
will be very pretty. Our house will also be illumi- 
nated, and I take the two eldest girls out with me 
to-niMit to see it all. It is a thinof for them never to 
forget, this great and glorious, though too horrid, 
war. 

March 13th. 

I know nothing as yet of Louis' return. I fear I 
must wait a few weeks longer. On Wednesday the 
Emperor, Fritz, and some of the Princes pass through 
Frankfort, and I am going there with my parents-in- 
law to see them. 

The Paris news is not very edifying, and I fear 
France has not seen the worst yet, for there seems 
to be a fearful state of anarchy there. 

I have no news to give, save that Frittie has his 
first tooth. He is between Victoria and Irene, but 
not like Ernie — not near so big, which is really not 
necessary. I think he is the sort of baby you ad- 
mire. I go on looking after my hospitals, and now 
the trains, full of Landwehr returning home cheering 
and singing, begin to pass. Now good-bye, darling 
Mama. I am in thought daily with you during these 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 2/5 

days, and only wish it had been in my power to be 
of any use or comfort to you just now. 

Darmstadt, April 8th, 

■K- si: * -^g \\2,A the pleasure of catching- a 
glimpse of Louise and Lome on their way through, 
but their stay was too short to be able to say more 
than a few words. They can scarcely help passing 
through here, as they can't go through France, on 
their way back ; and if you would allow them quite 
incognito on their way back to pass a day here, it 
would give both Louise and me the greatest pleasure, 
and entail no other visits. 

The Emperor, who kindly gave Louis leave, pro- 
longed it till Monday, when he leaves, and for how 
long is quite undecided. If I could only go with 
him ! Marie of Saxony has joined George : so has 
Carola [the Crown Princess of Saxony] her hus- 
band ; but our division, which is near Chumont, is 
in too bad and close quarters to admit of my living 
there. 

Should Louis have to remain very long, I still 
hope to rejoin him — I don't care about the little dis- 
comfort. 

The new governess, Frl. Kitz, comes on Thursday. 
She is not young, but pleasing-looking — said to be 
very amiable, and a good governess ; has been for 
eighteen years in England, first with Lady Palk, and 
then for ten years with Herr Kleinwart — a rich Ger- 
man banker in London — where she brought up the 
two dauofhters. 

Darmstadt, April 13th. 

* * * Ernie's kilt was sent him by Mr. 
Mitchell.* He admired Ernie so much at Berlin, 

* The late Mr. John Mitchell, the librarian of Old Bond Street. 



276 PRINCESS ALICE. 

that he said he would send him a Scotch dress, and 
I could not refuse. It is rather small as it is, and I 
hope that you will still give him one, as from his 
Grandmama it would be doubly valuable. 

Louis has arrived safely at his destination — Don- 
jeux ; and we both feel the separation very much 
after having had the happiness of being together 
as:ain. 

The Paris battles are too dreadful, and the end 
seems some way off yet. 

May 27 th. 

My thoughts cannot leave unfortunate Paris ! 
What horrors, and enacted so close by in the centre 
of the civilized world! It seems incredible; and 
what a lesson for those who wish to learn by it ! 

Darmstadt, June 8th. 

Louise and Lome are just gone, and it rains and 
blows, and is dreadful, Their visit was so pleasant, 
so gemuthlich, and I think Louise looks well and 
happy. She had much to tell of their journey, 
which seems to have been very interesting. I could 
show them almost nothing, as the weather was so 
bad. We three went yesterday evening to my pa- 
rents-in-law, who were most kind to them, as they 
always are to all my relations. 

Their short stay was a ^x&2X great pleasure to me, 
so cut off from home as I have been since three 
long years. 

Louis will be here in a few days, and we go to- 
gether to Berlin for four days ; Louis insists on my 
accompanying him. On the 24th the entry of the 
troops will be here. 

Seeheim, June 14th, 

* * * I am so glad that the poor Emperor 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 277 

and Empress are so kindly treated. They deserve 
to be well used by England, for the Emperor did so 
much to brinpf France and England too'ether. How 
shamefully the French treat them, and speak of 
them, is not to be told ; for the French consider 
themselves blameless, and always betrayed by oth- 
ers, whom they had made almost their gods of, as 
long as all went well. 

Dear Frittie is getting better — principally his 
looks, but the illness is not overcome yet. I have 
been so anxious about him. The country here is 
more beautiful than ever, and country air and flow- 
ers are a great enjoyment. Every little walk is up 
and down hill, little brooks, rocks, small green val- 
leys, fine woods, etc. I have not lived here since 
1 865, when Ella was a baby. The children are be- 
side themselves with pleasure at the pretty country 
and the scrambling walks, but above all at the wild 
flowers, in which they are getting quite learned. I 
find them in a book for them, and even Ernie knows 
some names, and never calls them wrong. All my 
children are great lovers of nature, and I develop 
this as much as I can. It makes life so rich, and 
they can never feel dull anywhere, if they know to 
seek and find around them the thousand beauties 
and wonders of nature. They are very happy and 
contented, and always see, the less people have 
the less they want, and the greater is the enjoyment 
of that which they have. I bring my children up 
as simply and with as few wants as I can, and, above 
all, teach them to help themselves and others, so as 
to become independent. 

Darmstadt, June 20th. 
I write at the dinner-table, whilst the children fin- 
ish dinner, as I have not found a spare moment yet, 



2/8 PRINCESS ALICE. 

and the rest of my afternoon is taken up with the 
preparations for to-morrow. 

The Empress Augusta has just been here for 
three hours, quite dead-tired with all she went 
through. 

Thousand thanks for your dear letter received be- 
fore our departure for Potsdam ! Our journey was 
dreadful. We left in the evening, and were to have 
been here at 1 1 a.m., and through the irregularity of 
the trains we only got here at four in the afternoon. 
I am quite done up. The fatigues at Berlin were in- 
cessant. Any thing more grand, more imposing or 
touching and erJiebend [elevating] than the entry of 
the troops in Berlin I never saw. It was a wonderful 
sight to drive for three-quarters of an hour through 
rows of French cannon! The decorations were so 
artistic, so handsome, and the enthusiasm of the 
dense crowds quite enormous. I am glad to have 
been there ; it will be a thing to recollect. The old 
Emperor, surrounded by the many princes and by 
his great generals, looked so noble riding at the 
head of his glorious troops. Deputations of all the 
German troops were there. 

It was very hot, and we had to drive every day to 
Berlin, and back in the evening. 

Alas! it is rainy here, and the town is so beauti- 
fully decorated ; three large triumphal arches, and 
the houses covered with garlands and flags. 

I found the dear children well, though rather pale 
from the heat. 

Louis left aofain this mornino^, but after to-morrow 
remains here for good, which will indeed be a pleas- 
ure after such endless separations. 

Darmstadt, June 27th. 
* * * To-day Aunt Marie of Russia and her 



A T HOME AND A T WORK. 2/9 

children were here. Aunt Marie looks thinner than 
ever, but well ; and Marie dear and nice, with such a 
kind fresh face, so simple and girlish. She gives 
her brothers music lessons during the journey, which 
she is very proud of. She is very fond of children, 
and of a quiet country life — that is the ideal she 
looks for. The Emperor of Russia comes here on 
the 5th, to join Aunt Marie at Petersthal. Louis' 
work is incessant — the selling off of horses, the 
chansfinsf grarrisons of the reo-iments, the new forma- 
tion of our division, causes almost more work than 
the Mobilmachting [mobilization]. The entry was 
very beautiful : the decorations of the town most 
tasteful ; not a house or the smallest street which 
was not covered with garlands, flags, and emblems. 
There were large groups of the captured guns, and 
the names of the battles on shields around. Unfor- 
tunately, it poured nearly all the time, and we were 
quite drenched. I had the five children in my car- 
riage, and Irene gave wreaths to her godfathers of 
the cavalry brigade. Two days ago we gave a large 
military dinner, and have several soirees of that sort 
to give before we can go into the country, which I 
am longing for. We shall probably go to Seeheim, 
as the summer seems too damp for Kranichstein. 

The middle of Auo-ust we shall q-q to Blanken- 
bero^he, near Ostend, as the doctors wish sea-bathingf 
for Louis, and sea air for me and for some of the 
children, which is very necessary to set us up before 
ofoinof to Scotland. We want to remain one or two 
days and one night in London. We require a few 
things, which make a stay necessary. If we might 
be at Balmoral on the loth, as Louis' birthday is on 
the 1 2th, would that suit you ?■ 

Please let me know in time if you think our plans 



28o PRINCESS ALICE. 

good. This will enable us to settle when to go to 
Blankenbero-he, as we can't be there longer than 
three weeks. 

How I look forward to seeing you again, and to 
come home once more ! It is so kind of you to let 
us brino;- the children. The arrangement of the 
rooms will do perfectly, and we don't care how we 
are put up, and above all things don't wish to be in 
the way. 

The weather is horrid — rain and wind incessantly 
— after having been tremendously hot. These sud- 
den changes upset every one, and Frittie has had a 
very slight return of his illness. 

August 13th. 

* * * The newest news is, that my nice excel- 
lent Marie Grancy is going to marry. She will be 
such a loss to me. These last years she has been so 
useful, so amiable, and I shall miss her dreadfully. 
She is going to marry Major von Hesse, who was 
with us in England the last time, and the wedding is 
to be in September. As he has been ill in conse- 
quence of the war, they will go to Italy and spend 
the winter there. 

We leave at eight to-morrow morning, reach 
Cologne at one o'clock, and wait there till ten in the 
evening, when we continue our journey and reach 
Blankenberghe at eight next morning. Will you 
kindly send a gentleman to Gravesend, who can re- 
main with us in London, as we are quite alone ? 

Uncle George, Aunt Cambridge, and Mary dined 
with us at Frankfort two days ago. Mary I had 
not seen for three years ; she was looking very 
handsome. 

Blankenberghe, August 17th. 

Only two words to say that we arrived safe and 



A T HOME AND A T WORK. 28 1 

well here yesterday after a very hot journey. The 
hotel is on the beach where we sit all day ; there 
are no walks or any thing save the beach, and no 
trees. Our rooms are very small and not very 
clean ; but the heavenly sea air and the wind refresh 
one, and the sands are very long. One can ride on 
donkeys, which enchants young and old children. 
Every one bathes together, and one has to take a 
little run before the waves cover one. We bathed 
with the three girls this morning, but I felt quite shy, 
for all the people sit round and look on, and there 
are great numbers of people here. Our children 
play about with others and dig in the sand. Frittie 
sleeps so well since he has been here ; his color is 
beginning to return. 

We have one small sitting-room, which is our 
dining-room, and Louis' dressing-room. 

I was so sad and upset at taking leave of my dear 
Marie Grancy the other day ; a kind true friend and 
companion has she been to me these nine years, and 
during the war she was quite invaluable to me. I 
hope she will be as happy as she deserves to be. 

Buckingham Palace, September loth. 

The pleasure of seeing your dear handwriting 
again has been so great ! Thank God that you are 
going on well. I do feel so miLch for you, and for all 
you have had to suffer in every way ! I trust entire 
quiet and rest of mind and body, and any little atten- 
tion that I may be able to offer for your comfort, will 
make the autumn of real benefit for your health. 
How I do look forward to seeing you again, I can't 
say. "'" * "^'■■ 

We propose leaving the evening of the 13th. 
Bertie and Uncle George have arranged for our 
going to Aldershot on Monday and Tuesday, which 



282 PRINCESS ALICE. 

interests Louis above all things, and I fancied this 
arrangement would suit you best. 

The journey has quite cured Frittie, without any 
medicine, and the heat is over. 

'''"■ * ''•' I took Victoria and Ella to the Exhibi- 
tion, and what enchanted Ella most was a policeman, 
who was, as she said, " so very kind " in keeping the 
crowd off. It reminded me of " Susy Pusy," which 
dear Papa usfed to tease me with as a child. 

We dined and lunched with Bertie, who had only 
just arrived, and is gone again. Dear Arthur of 
course I have not seen. 

Bram's Hill Park Camp, ) 

Cavalry Brigade, 2D Division, >- 

September 12th. ) 

In Bertie's tent I write these few lines to thank 
you in Louis' name and my own a thousand times 
for your dear kind letter. Every loving word is so 
precious to us, and the presents you so kindly gave 
Louis enchanted him. The pin, unfortunately, did 
not arrive. 

How I regret each time I hear you speak of your 
illness ! I have been so anxious about you. Uncle 
Louis and my parents-in-law, in their telegram of 
to-day, enquire after you. 

We have had two such interesting days ; the 
country too lovely, each day in a quite different part. 
We accompanied Uncle George, and in this way 
have seen the two Divisions, and through sleeping 
here will be enabled to see the third Division to- 
morrow before returning to town. 

I saw dear Arthur yesterday. He rode with me 
all the time, and to-day we met him marching with 
his company. How I have enjoyed seeing your 
splendid troops again, I can't tell you ; but I shall 
reserve all news till we meet. 



A T HOME AND A T WORK. 283 

Louis thanks you again and again for your kind- 
ness, and only regrets not having seen you himself, 
but is very grateful that we were allowed to stay a 
few days at Buckingham Palace, through which we 
were enabled to come here, which to him as a sol- 
dier is of the very greatest interest. Bertie is full of 
his work, and I think it interests him immensely. 
He has charming officers about him, to help and 
show him what to do. To our great disappointment 
we did not see the 42d Highlanders, the " Black 
Watch " to-day ; but yesterday we saw the Agyle- 
shire 91st Highlanders, who gave Louise the present. 
Bertie lent me a charminsf little horse, but the o^round 
is dreadful, and not having ridden for so long, and 
being on horseback so many hours, makes me feel 
quite stiff. 

DuNROBiN Castle, ) 
Sutherland, October 19th. ) 

I wish your telegram had brought me better news 
of you. I really can't bear to think of you suffering, 
and so much alone. I feel it quite wrong to have 
left you, and my thoughts and wishes are continually 
with you, and distract my attention from all I see here. 
I can't tell you how much I feel for you at being 
so helpless. It is such a trial to any one so active as 
yourself ; but your trial must be drawing to a close, 
and you will be rewarded in the end, I am sure, by 
feeling perhaps even better and stronger than you 
did before all your troubles. 

I was nearly sick in the train, which is the slowest 
I was ever in in my life, and was unable to go to 
dinner ; but a long walk by the sea this morning 
has quite set me up in spite of the extraordinary 
warmth. 

Sandringham, November 9th. 

It is the first time since eleven years that I have 



284 PRINCESS ALICE. 

spent Bertie's birthday with him, and though we are 
only three of our own family together, still that is 
better than nothing, and makes it seem more like 
birthday. Bertie and Alix are so kind, and give us 
so warm a welcome, showing how they like having 
us, that it feels quite home. Indeed I pray earnestly 
that God's blessing may rest on him, and that he 
may be guided to do what is wise and right, so that 
he may tide safely through the anxious times that 
are before him, and in which we now live. They 
are both charming hosts, and all the party suit well 
together. The Westminsters and Brownlows are 
here ; Lady B. is so very handsome. 

We joined the shooting party for luncheon, and 
the last beats out to-day and yesterday ; and the 
weather is beautiful, though cold — a very bracing 
air, like Scotland. 



1872. 

The Princess did not return to Darmstadt with 
her children till the end of January, passing through 
Brussels on her way. Prince Louis was invested 
with the order of the Black Eao;le at the " Kron- 
ungs- und Ordensfest " at Berlin. Many of their re- 
lations visited the Prince and Princess during the 
early part of the year. 

On the 6th of June another daughter was born, 
and she was christened on the ist of July, the anni- 
versary of her parents' wedding-day. Her names 
were Victoria Alix Helena Louise Beatrice. The 
sponsors were the Prince and Princess of Wales, the 
Cesarewitch and Cesarewna, Princess Beatrice, the 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 285 

Duchess of Cambridge, and the Landgravine of 
Hesse. 

In August the Crown Prince of Prussia paid his 
first visit to Darmstadt since the war, and met with a 
most loyal and hearty reception. 

In consequence of the death of the Princess 
Hohenlohe-Lanorenburo', the beloved half-sister of 
the Queen, in September, the Prince and Princess 
went to Baden to be present at the last sad cere- 
mony, and to see their beloved aunt borne to her 
rest. 

A fortnight later the general assembly of the 
various German societies for charitable purposes 
held its first meeting at Darmstadt. 

All these societies, including the "Ladies' Union," 
founded by Princess Alice, had, in 1869, joined 
themselves together to form one great body. Dur- 
ing the year 1872 the Princess added another Insti- 
tution to those she had already called into existence 
— viz., an Orphan Asylum. A special committee of 
ladies was at the head of it, to watch over it, and 
also, if necessary, to advise and help those poor 
orphans who had been boarded out in private families 
at the expense of the parish. This institution has 
aleady proved most successful, thanks to the readi- 
ness with which the authorities met all Princess 
Alice's wishes. 

The general assembly at Darmstadt — the " Frauen- 
tag " or " Ladies' Diet," as it was called — distin- 
guished itself, not only by the extremely discreet 



286 PRINCESS ALICE. 

and practical manner in which it carried out all the 
many different branches of business which it had un- 
dertaken, but also by the presence of several re- 
markable persons interested in its aims and objects, 
such as Madame Marie Simon, the founder and head 
of the Institution for training nurses at Dresden, and 
three English ladies, Miss Mary Carpenter, Miss 
Florence Hill, and Miss Winkworth. 

The subjects treated of at the general assembly 
were the admission of women to the Post Office and 
Telegraph Service ; the results of the working of F. 
Froebel's principles for the further employment of 
women ; of " Kindergarten " ; the finding of proper 
localities for the exhibition and sale of women's 
handiwork of all kinds ; nursing as a branch of 
female industry ; the provision of better schools for 
girls, and what had been done, and was doing, in 
England for female education and at similar institu- 
tions. 

The Princess followed all the discussions with the 
keenest interest. She received all the members of 
the different societies at her own palace, and for each 
she had a kind and encouraging word. 

None of those present will ever forget the sym- 
pathy and encouragement they met with from the 
Princess. She not only advised and suggested 
things, but herself took the initiative in any impor- 
tant question which came under her notice. The 
general assembly did great credit to itself in the eyes 
of Germany, and, indeed, of other countries as well, 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 28/ 

and its members were encouraged to still further 
exertions. 

The Princess herself was full of new plans for 
further good works. At the beginning of November 
Prince and Princess Louis were present at the un- 
veiling of a monument erected to the memory of the 
Hessian soldiers who fell in the war of 1870. The 
Princess herself placed some wreaths at its base. 
The 14th of December, the anniversary of the Prince 
Consort's death, the Princess spent with her sister 
the Crown Princess of Prussia, who had come to 
Darmstadt from Carlsruhe for the purpose. 

Darmstadt, January 21st. 

* * * Louis returns to-morrow from Berlin. 
He was the first to be invested by the Emperor, and 
has met with great kindness. He was very glad to 
have been there with dear Arthur, who seems to 
please every one. 

February 5th. 

* * * It is a great pleasure to have dear 
Arthur here. He is so amiable, civil, and nice, and 
takes interest in all he sees, and is so pleasant to 
have in the house. His visit will be very short, as 
he gives up two days to go to Baden. 

We gave small suppers on two evenings for 
Arthur, and yesterday evening a celebrated, most 
excellent violinist played quite as well as Joachim : 
a friend of his, and a pupil of Spohr's. This after- 
noon he is going to play some of Bach's celebrated 
sonatas with and to me. Arthur enjoys music very 
much, and keeps up his playing. 

There is a dance at Uncle Alexander's to-night, 
on Wednesday a Court ball, and on Friday one at 



288 PRINCESS ALICE. 

my parents-in-law. I can't stand the heat at all of 
an evening, and the rooms are very hot. Louis, 
who has an awful cold, took Arthur to see the bar- 
racks, as all military things give him pleasure. 

It is heavenly sunny weather, having been quite 
dark and foggy all day yesterday. 

April 2oth. 

% -::- * Louis has been in Upper Hesse the last 
four days shooting Auerhdhne, but as yet unsuccess- 
fully. My mother-in-law is very grateful for your 
kind message, and is better, though weak. She has 
had a narrow escape from fever. 

Frittie has again endless bruises, with lumps, as 
Leo used to have ; but he is taking iron, as Sir 
William [Jenner] wished, and is strong and rosy and 
well otherwise. I trust he may outgrow this. 

June 17th. 

Many thanks for your dear letter and kind wishes 
for the birth of our baby "''' — a nice little thing, like 
Ella, only smaller and with finer features, though the 
nose promises to be long. * * * 

Kind Dr. Hofmeister was most attentive ; and of 
course having him was far pleasanter than not, and 
we owe you great thanks for having sent him. Mrs. 
Clarke has been all one could wish. 

Louis wrote as soon as he could, but this last week 
he has only been home just before his dinner, and 
was so tired that he invariably fell asleep. He has 
gone out at six, returning at twelve, and has had 
to be out before four in the afternoon, returning 
at eight. He is away again to-day. Until the 
1 5th of September his duty will be important, and 
he has all the office work besides. It is double 

* Princess Alix, born on the 6th of June. 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 289 

this year to what it usually is, as all people and things 
are new since the war. 

How sad the loss of those two poor children is,^" 
and the sweet little " bairnie " of three ! The un- 
fortunate mother to lose two in so dreadful a way ! 
I am sure it touched Beatrice much to see the poor 
little one ; and in a child death so often loses every 
thincr that is painful. 

\Ve think of calling our little girl " Alix " (Alice 
they pronounce too dreadfully in German) " Helena 
Louise Beatrice," and, if Beatrice may, we would 
much like to have her as godmother. 

Darmstadt, June 24th. 

* '^ '^- We both felt so truly for you when we 
heard of dear Dr. Macleod's death, knowing what a 
kind and valued friend of yours he was, and how fate 
seems to take one friend after another, and before 
age can claim its right. He indeed deserves his 
rest, for he did so much good in his life ! 

I feel rather weaker than usual this time, and sit- 
ting and walking, though only a few steps, tries me 
a good deal. I was out for half an hour yesterday, 
and I think the air will do me good. 

Louis left at half-past five this morning, and will 
be back by seven, I hope, this evening ; to-morrow 
the same. 

I will add Vicky's name to baby's others, as you 
propose ; and " Alix " we gave for " Alice," as they 
murder my name here : " Aliice " they pronounce 
it, so we thought " Alix " could not so easily be 
spoilt. 

* Two children who were carried away by a " spate " while playing at 
Monaltrie Burn, near Balmoral (nth of June, 1872), and swept into the river 
Dee and drowned. See " More Leaves from a Journal of a Life in the 
Highlands," p. 156 et seq. 



290 PRINCESS ALICE. 

Uncle Alexander is coming" back shortly, and says 
the Empress is not to return to Russia this winter, 
and will be sent to Italy for the whole winter. 

The heat has been quite dreadful ; there is a little 
air to-day, though. 

August 14th. 

-X- * « Baby is like Ella, only smaller features, 
and still darker eyes with very black lashes, and 
reddish-brown hair. She is a sweet, merry little 
person, always laughing, with a deep dimple in one 
cheek just like Ernie. 

We are going to Frankfort to-day to give Uncle 
George and Fritz Strelitz a luncheon in our Palais 
there. Helene Renter comes to us for a month to- 
morrow as lady. 

I hope your Edinburgh visit will go off well. You 
have never lived in Holyrood since 1861, have you? 

How I shall think of you at dear Balmoral, and 
this time capable of enjoying it — not like last time, 
when you had to suffer so much, and were unable to 
do any thing. It quite spoiled our visit to see you 
an invalid. Remember me to all old friends there — 
to Brown's kind old mother, and any who ask after us. 

I shall think of you on dear Grandmama's birth- 
day. She is never forgotten by any of us, and lives 
on as a dearly-cherished memory of all that was good 
and loving, and so kind. My children have her pic- 
ture in their room, and I often tell them of her. 

Kranichstein, August 20th. 
I am very grateful for your telegrams from Edin- 
burgh, and for Flora's [MacDonald] letter. It in- 
terests me so much to know what you did there, 
and I am very glad all went off so well. The people 
will have been too delighted to have had you in 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 29 1 

their midst again, and I am sure you enjoyed the 
beauty of your fine northern capital anew after not 
having- seen it for so long a time. Beatrice seems 
deliofhted with what she saw. I recollect those 
many interesting and beautiful spots so well.* 

The 1 8th was the anniversary of the dreadful 
battle of Gravelotte, which cost so many lives, to our 
division especially. We drove into town to the 
military church, which was full of officers and men, 
at half-past seven in the morning, and thought much 
of the friends and acquaintances in their distant 
graves, and of the desolate homes, until that day so 
bright. My heart felt too full when we were singing 
Eiii feste Burg, and I had my husband at my side, 
whom the Almighty had graciously spared to my 
children and myself. Gratitude seems barely enough 
to express the intense depth of what I feel when I 
think of that time, and how again and again I long 
to give all and all to my good dear Louis and to our 
children, for he is all that is good and true and pure. 

* * '•' The children were much distressed at 
the sad fate of my poor little bullfinch, who piped 
beautifully. Louis had caught an owl and put it in 
a wooden sort of a cage in the room where my bird 
was. In the night it broke the bars and got loose 
and tore the bullfinch's tail out, and the poor little 
thing died in consequence. 

Of our quiet country life there is little to tell. We 
are a good deal out, always with our little people, 
their pets — dogs, cats, ponies, donkeys ; it is rather 
like a menasferie. 

ScHLOSS Kranichstein, September 17th. 

* «- * On Sunday the Moriers with their chil- 

* For an account of this visit see '* More Leaves from a Journal," p. 164 
et seq. 



292 PRINCESS ALICE. 

dren were with us for the clay. He looked so white 
and reduced, walks on crutches, but retains, as 
always, his spirits and his lively interest for all things. 
He is a kind, warm-hearted man, to whom we are 
both attached. Alice feels the loss of her poor 
sister deeply, and says her father has been so cut up 
about it. 

We took them to races close by, and feared we 
should be upset, the ground being very heavy and 
uneven, and I was in terror for Mr. Morier, who was 
in my carriage. 

On the 9th there is a large meeting here of the 
different associations existing throughout Germany 
for the bettering of women's education and social 
position (of the middle class especially with regard 
to trade). Some English ladies are coming, some 
Swiss and Dutch. It will last four days, and be very 
fatiguing. The programme I arranged with my 
two committees here and the gentlemen at Berlin, 
and they wanted to force me to preside ; but for so 
large an assemblage — to me nearly all strangers — I 
postively refused. I do that in my own Associa- 
tions, but not \vhere there are so many strangers, 
who all want to talk, and all to cross purposes. It is 
difficult enough to keep one's own people in order 
when they disagree. I hope and trust I have pre- 
vented all exaofaerated and unfeminine views beina: 
brought up, which to me are dreadful. These 
Associations, if not reasonably led, tend too easily to 
the ridiculous. My Associations take a great deal 
of my time and thought, and require a good amount 
of study. I hope and trust that what we are doing 
here is the right thing. We have already had some 
satisfactory results in the class of the workwomen, 
and in the reform of the schools ; but there are many 



A T HOME AND A T WORK. 293 

open questions yet, which I hope this meeting, with 
others who work in the same field, may help us to 
solve. 

Will you look through the programme? It would 
please me so much, if I thought, you took a little 
interest in my endeavors here in a very small way to 
follow in a slight degree part of dear Papa's great 
works for the good of others. 

The meeting at Berlin seems to have gone off 
very well, and has pleased all Germans, who hope 
for a consolidation of peace— so necessary to them. 

We have an entire change of Ministrv at Darm- 
stadt, the first since 1848, which fills all with hopes 
for an improvement in all the affairs of the Grand 
Duchy. 

Kranichstein, September 25th, 

* ->>- * Jill sympathize with you, and feel what 
a loss to you darling Aunt* must be — how great 
the gap in your life, how painful the absence of that 
sympathy and love which united her life and yours 
so closely. 

Darling, kind Mama, I feel so acutely for you, 
that my thoughts are incessantly with you, and my 
prayers for comfort and support to be granted you in 
the heavy trial are warm indeed. You have borne so 
many hard losses with courage and resignation, that 
for darling Aunt's sake you will do so again, and 
knowing her at rest and peace will in time reconcile 
you to the loss — all the more as her passing from 
this world to another was so touchingly peaceful. 
Dear Augusta [Stanley] wrote to me, which was a 
great consolation, and we intend going to Baden to 
pay our last token of respect and love. 

* The Queen's half-sister, Feodore, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, 
who died on the 23d of September, 1S72, at Baden-Baden. 



294 PRINCESS ALICE. 

Darmstadt, October 13th. 

* * * A few words about our doings here 
may be of interest to you. The meeting went off 
well, was very large, the subjects discussed were to 
the purpose and important, and not one word of 
the emancipated political side of the question was 
touched upon by any one. Schools (those of the 
lower, middle, and higher classes) for girls was the 
principal theme ; the employment of women for post 
and telegraph offices, etc.; the improvement neces- 
sary in the education of nursery-maids, and the 
knowledge of mothers in the treatment of little chil- 
dren ; the question of nurses and nursing institutes. 

The committees of the fifteen Associations met 
Wedesday afternoon, and in the evening thirteen of 
the members came to us to supper. 

The public meeting on the following day lasted 
from nine to two with a small interruption ; a com- 
mittee meeting in the afternoon ; and that evening 
all the members and guests came to us — nearly fifty 
in number. The following day the meetings lasted 
even longer, and the English ladies were kind 
enough to speak — only think, old Miss Carpenter, 
on all relating to women's work in England (she is 
our guest here). Her account of the Queen's Insti- 
tute at Dublin was most interesting. Miss Hill 
(also our guest), about the boarding-out system for 
orphans. Miss C. Winkworth, about higher educa- 
tion in England. She mentioned also the new in- 
stitution to which Louise now belongs, and is a 
member of it herself. The ladies all spoke very 
well ; the German ones remarkably so. 

There was a good deal of work to finish after- 
ward, and a good many members to see. They came 
from all parts of Germany — many kind-hearted, 



AT HOME AND AT WORK. 295 

noble, self denying women. The presence of the 
English ladies — above all, of one such as Miss Car- 
penter, who has done such good works for the refor- 
mation of convicts — greatly enhanced the importance 
of the meeting, and her great experience has been 
of value to us all. She means still to give a lecture 
on India and the state of the native schools there, 
before leavinor us. 

I have still so much work in hand, that I fear my 
letter is hurried and ill-written, but I hope you will 
kindly excuse this. 

To-morrow I am taking Miss Carpenter to all our 
different schools, that she may see how the different 
systems in use work. Some are good, but none 
particularly so ; there is much to improve. 

Louis is gone to Mayence to-day for the inaugu- 
ration of the Memorial which the town has erected to 
the memory of dear excellent Waldemar Holstein, 
for so many years its beloved Governor. 

Darmstadt, October 24th. 

You must indeed miss dear Aunt much, and feel 
your thoughts drawn to her, whose precious 
intercourse was such a solace and comfort to you. 
It is nice for you to have Louise a little to your- 
self === -"- * 

You ask, if my mother-in-law talks with me about 
the different woman's work in which I am interested. 
Of course she does. We are so intimate together, 
that even where we differ in opinion we yet talk of 
every thing freely, and her opinion is of the greatest 
value to me. She had ever been a most kind, 
true, and loving mother, whom I respect and love 
more and more. She was much' pleased and inter- 
ested in the success of the meeting, but is of course 



296 PRINCESS ALICE. 

as adverse as myself to all extreme views on such 
subjects. 

1 have joined to my Nursing" Institute an Associa- 
tion for watching over the orphans who are boarded- 
out by the State into families, where some poor 
children are unhappy and ill-used. The use of such 
meetings as this one was consists mainly in the 
interchange of experience made in the different 
branches in other places, which it is impossible to 
carry on by correspondence. 

The schools are entirely different throughout Ger- 
many — good and indifferent ; and those here do not 
count among the best, as every thing, through the 
long misrule of the late Government, is not what it 
ought to be. 

Uncle Louis has a new Ministry now, which gives 
every one cause for hope. 

Darmstadt, November 3d. 

* ■?:- ♦ -pi^g weather is awful here ; the wind 
sounds in the house as if one were at sea. 

This article was sent me the other day, and 
though I half fear s&Qming 7nzbeschetdcu [overbold], 
yet, as you spoke of your feelings about women's 
meetings the other day, I venture to send it. 

Ella is writing to you herself to thank you for the 
lovely bracelet, which gave me as much pleasure as 
it did her. To think that she is already eight! She is 
handsomer than she was, and a dear child. * * * 
They all give me pleasure, dear children, though of 
course they have as many faults as others ; but they 
are truthful and contented, and very affectionate. 
Having them much with me, watching and guiding 
their education — which, through our quiet and regular 
life, is possible — I am able to know and understand 
their different characters, for not one is like the 
other. 



A T HOME AND A T WORK. 297 

Darmstadt, November 12th. 

* * * We have the same weather here which 
you seem to have, which for our long journey was 
not pleasant. We took nearly twelve hours going, 
and as much returning from Metz. For the inaugu- 
ration itself the weather held up. The roads were 
dreadful, and the wide plateau looked dreary and 
sad — dotted all over with graves, like an enormous 
churchyard. 

The memorial is a dead lion in bronze, on a plain 
pedestal, bearing an inscription on black marble in 
front, and at the back all the names. Deputations 
of officers and men were present, besides the 
generals, etc., from Metz. The clergyman of the di- 
vision read the prayers, preached a short and touch- 
ing sermon, and the band played a chorale. Louis 
spoke a few words, ending with the usual " Hoch " 
for the Emperor and Grand Duke. I then laid some 
wreaths at the foot of the Memorial from Louis' 
parents and ourselves, and we drove back to Metz 
across the different battlefields. The villages are all 
built up again, and re-inhabited, so that few traces of 
the dreadful strucxcyle remain. 

* vj ■?:- "Yl-iQ Empress of Russia wrote the other 
day that the alliance with Marie * of Mecklenburg is 
quite impossible, as she won't change her religion. 
I hope all other German Princesses will follow her 
example. 

Darmstadt, December 12th. 
For the 14th I write a few words. From year to 
year they can but express the same ; the grief at the 
loss of such a father, such a man, grows with me, 

* Daughter of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Subsequently 
she did marry the Grand Duke Vladamir of Russia, as she was allowed not 
to change her religion. This was the first time such a thing was permitted 
in Russia. 



298 PRINCESS ALICE. 

and leaves a gap and a want that nothing on earth 
can ever fill up. 

The deep, intense sympathy for what you, my 
poor dear Mama, went through then and since, in 
consequence of your bereavement, remains as vivid 
as ever. God heard our prayers, and sustained you, 
and through the healing hand of time softened your 
grief, and retained you for us, who were too young 
and too numicrous to stand alone ! 

That our good sweet Alix should have been spared 
this terrible grief, when this time last year it seemed 
so imminent, fills my heart with gratitude for her 
dear sake, as for yours, his children, and ours. That 
time is as indelibly fixed on my memory as that of 
1 86 1, when the witnessing of your grief rent my 
heart so deeply. The 14th will now be a day of 
mixed recollections and feelings to us — a day hal- 
lowed in our family, when one great spirit ended his 
work on earth — though his work can never die, and 
generations will grow up and call his name blessed 
—and when another was left to fulfil his duty and 
mission, God grant, for the welfare of his own family 
and of thousands.* 

I have not time to write to dearest Bertie and Alix 
to-day ; and as I love to think of them with you on 
the 14th, so I would ask you to let them share these 
lines full of sympathy for them, letting a remem- 
brance of me, who suffered with them, mingle with 
your united prayers and thanks on this solemn day ! 

My little Fritz is at length better, but white and 
thin, in consequence of his illness. 

Christmas Day, 
Your dear presents gave me so much pleasure ; I 

* Who would have thought that only six years later the Princess herself 
was to rejoin her father on the same day ? 



A T HOME A AW A T WORK. 299 

thank you again and again for them. The precious 
souvenir of dear Aunt, and my Ernie's picture de- 
light me. I assure you, nothing has given me more 
pleasure this Christmas. 

Let me also thank you, in Louis' and the children's 
names (meanwhile, until they do so themselves), for 
your kind gifts to them. It makes us all so happy 
and grateful, to be always so kindly remembered. 

The boys were well enough to enjoy Christmas, 
though rather pale and pulled — above all, sweet 
Ernie. 

We gave all our servants presents — the whole 
household and stable — under the Christmas-tree, 
which we made for the children ; and when the tree 
is divided, the children of all our servants come and 
share it with ours. It keeps the household as a 
family, which is so important. We have fifty people 
to give to ! 

Dear Beatrice's wishes (cards) pleased the children 
very much, but Frittie lamented for a letter from 
Auntie "for Frittie." He talks quite well now. 

On Saturday we shall go for the day to Vicky. I 
don't like leaving the boys for longer yet. I am so 
glad Vicky gave such a flattering account of baby. 
She, is quite the personification of her nickname 
" Sunny " — much like Ella, but a smaller head, and 
livelier, with Ernie's dimple and expression. 




TRIALS. 



1873-1877. 



" May the hour of trial and grief bring its blessing with it, and not have 
come in vain ! The day passes so quickly, when one can do good and make 
others happy— and one leaves always so much undone." {Atigzist 2, 1873.) 



IS73. 

'HIS year began brightly and happily to the 
Prince and Princess, for little Prince Fritz, 
whose health had often given rise to serious anxiety, 
seemed stroncrer and better. In March the Princess 
at last was able to carry out her long-cherished wish 
to visit Italy. She travelled incognita, accompanied 
by Miss Hardinge and Hofrath Ruland. The jour- 
ney was made in a comparatively short time, but was 
thoroughly successful. The Princess travelled from 
Darmstadt by Munich and the Brenner Pass to Flor- 
ence, where she spent three days, and from there 
went straight on to Rome. 

During her stay in the " eternal city " she em- 
ployed her mornings in visiting the many beautiful 
picture-galleries, the churches, and the ruins of 
ancient Rome. In the afternoons she made longer 
excursions into the neighborhood, visiting the more 

distant churches in the Campagna, as well as the 

300 



TRIALS. 301 

celebrated villas of Albani, Ludovisi, Borghese, etc. 
She used to spend her evenings in talking over and 
discussing all the objects of interest she had seen 
during the day. The Princess with her wonderful 
power of observation was able to do a large amount 
of sight-seeing in a comparatively short time. She 
was accompanied by Monsignore Howard (now Car- 
dinal Howard) over St. Peter's ; and he showed her 
many interesting parts of this glorious edifice, which 
in general are never shown to Protestants. At the 
" Farneslna," the private palace of Count Bermudez, 
she was received and conducted over it by the Count 
himself. The ruins of Rome which interested the 
Princess the most were those which dated from the 
time of the first Christians, as far back as the early 
mediaeval period, the catacombs of " San Callisto," 
and the curious church of" San Clemente." Amons^st 
the ceremonies of the " Holy Week " the Princess 
was greatly struck by " The Lamentations," whilst 
others made her ask, as all Protestants do, how the 
pure simple Christian religion could possibly be so 
misrepresented. After attending all the grand cere- 
monies of the Church of Rome, the quiet service at 
the German Embassy made a most happy and peace- 
ful impression on the Princess. She visited the 
Pope, Pius IX., who received her with his usual 
winning kindness."^" She also went to the Quirinal 
to pay her respects to King Victor Emanuel, and to 
the Crown Princess of Italy, Princess Margherita. 

* He said to the Princess : " La benediction d'un vieillard fait toujours du 
bien." 



302 PRINCESS ALICE. 

The two Princesses drove tos^ether throuo-h Rome 
on the occasion of the celebration of its " birthday," 
and witnessed the illumination of the Capitol, 
Forum, and Colosseum. 

On the 13th of April^the Princess made a brief 
excursion to Sorrento by way of Naples, where her 
father-in-law and the Empress of Russia were stay- 
ing. On the 24th of April she left with her suite for 
Florence, travelling by way of Perugia and Lake 
Thrasimene, through the valley of the Arno. As 
she had but little time, she was only able to visit the 
galleries of the Uffizi and Pitti Palaces, the tombs 
of the Medici in San Lorenzo, the Convent of St. 
Mark, the Cathedral, the Church of Santa Croce, and 
the " Museo Nazionale." 

The Princess left Italy on the 28th April, reaching 
Darmstadt on the 2d of May. 

Her journey had been one of thorough enjoyment, 
and she felt deeply grateful that she had at last been 
able to see with her own eyes those glorious works 
of art, which from her childhood she had only been 
able to picture dimly to herself. 

The joy of her reunion with her family was, alas ! 
not to be of long duration. Prince Louis had been 
obliged to leave Darmstadt early on the morning of 
the 29th of May to inspect the troops in Upper 
Hesse, leaving the Princess still in bed, exhausted 
from the great fatigue of her Italian journey. The 
two little Princes came to wish her "good-morning," 
and by her wish were left in her room by the nurse. 



TRIALS. 303 

The children soon began to play, as was their wont, 
running in and out of the room into the adjacent 
one, and looking from one window and then from 
another. Prince Ernest having run into the next 
room, the Princess followed him, leaving Prince 
Fritz in her bedroom, During her almost momen- 
tary absence he fell out of the window on to the 
stone terrace below. Whether he had leaned too 
far out of it and overbalanced himself, or whether in 
running fast throuofh the room to the window to look 
for his brother he could not stop himself and fell from 
it, no one actually knows. He was picked up in- 
sensible, and died a few hours afterward in the arms 
of his distracted mother. Effusion of blood on the 
brain caused by the fall ended that young and bright 
little life. The loss of this unusually-gifted and be- 
loved child was a blow to the mother from which 
she never recovered. Her married life had till then 
been such a happy one, that this first sorrow came 
on her with redoubled force. 

On the evening of Whitsunday, June ist, the be- 
loved little Prince was taken to his last resting-place, 
at the Rosenhohe (the Grand Ducal Mausoleum), his 
parents and sisters and brother being present. It 
was very long before the Princess at all recovered 
from the terrible shock of the death of her child, 
though the sympathy shown to her by her family 
and friends — indeed, by all — greatly comforted and 
helped her. 

In the autumn the Prince and Princess went to 



304 PRINCESS ALICE. 

Heiden in Appenzell for a little change. From 
there they paid a visit to the Prince of Hohenzollern 
at his castle of the Weinburg. At the end of No- 
vember they went to England with their three 
youngest children, and remained there till the 23d 
of December, when they returned to Darmstadt. 

Darmstadt, January 12th, 
* H: * -^y^ were both much shocked to hear of 
the death of the Emperor Napoleon, and I must say 
grieved; personally he was so amiable, and she is much 
to be pitied. That he should die an exile in Eng- 
land and, as Louis Phillippe did, is most striking. In 
England the sympathy shown must touch the poor 
Empress, and, as I telegraphed, we should be so 
grateful to you, if you would kindly be the medium 
through which both of us would like to express to 
her how much we feel for her. How proud you 
must ever be, in feeling that your country is the one 
always able to offer a home and hospitality for those 
driven away from their own countries ! England is 
before all others in that ; and its warm sympathy for 
those who are in misfortune is such a generous feel- 

Fannie Baillie's Victoria is such a nice girl. She 
comes to our children every Saturday, and is not 
above playing at dolls with them, though she is so 
much older. There are two rather nice little English 
girls, daughters of the chaplin here, who come to 
them. 

February ist. 

If any one will feel with us, I know you will do so 
most. Since three days, with an interruption of one 
day, poor Frittie has been bleeding incessantly from 
a slight cut on his ear, which was nearly healed. 



TRIALS. 305 

Since yesterday evening we cannot stop it. All the 
usual remedies were used, but as yet unavailing. 
Just now the place has been touched again with 
caustic and tightly bound, after we had with great 
trouble got rid of the quantity of dried blood from 
his hair, ear, neck, etc. He is horrified at the sight 
of so much blood, but shows great strength as yet 
in spite of so great a loss. He is of course very 
irritable, and, as he must not scream, one has to do 
whatever he wishes, which will spoil him dreadfully. 
I own I was much upset when I saw that he had this 
tendency to bleed, and the anxiety for the future, 
even if he gets well over this, will remain for years 
to come. All have their trials, one or another, and, 
please God, we shall bear whatever is sent without 
complaining. To see one's own child suffer is for a 
mother a great trial. With what pleasure one would 
change places with the little one, and bear its pain ! 

February 6th, 

, * * * jj^ ^|-^g summer Fritz had a violent 
attact of dysentery, which was so prevalent at Darm- 
stadt, and off and on for two months it continued, 
until Scotland stopped it ; and this illness made him 
sensitive and delicate. 

* * * What has caused him such ereat suffer- 
mg has been that, what with the use of caustic, the 
tight bandaging and the iron, a quantity of small 
gatherings formed on his cheek and neck, causing 
such an amount of pain that he could not remain in 
bed or anywhere quiet for the two first days and 
nights. Now they are drying off, the itching is such 
that he don't know what to do with himself, and we 
have the greatest difficulty in keeping him from rub- 
bing or scratching himself. The want of sleep through 
pain, etc., has excited him very much, so that he has 



3o6 PRINCESS ALICE. 

been very difficult to manage. The bandages of 
course cannot be removed, and great care will be 
taken when they are removed, lest bleeding should 
re-commence. He has been out twice a day as usual 
all along, and his skin never quite lost its pinkness and 
mottled appearance ; all of which are signs that he 
has good blood and to spare, else he would look 
worse and have shown weakness, which after all he 
did not. ''' * ^' 

He speaks well for his age, and is, alas ! very wild, 
so that it will be impossible to keep him from having 
accidents. * ==: * 

* " '''* I have been playing some lovely things 
(very difficult) of Chopin lately, which I know you 
would admire. 

Darmstadt, February 19th. 

My best thanks for your dear letter ! That I for- 
got to thank you at once for dear Grandmama's very 
beautiful print * came from my having the litho- 
graph of that picture in my room always before me, and, 
though the print far surpasses it, I am so fond of the 
lithograph, that I forgot the print at the moment I 
was writing to you. Before that dear picture, the 
painting of which I recollect so well, my children 
often sit, and I tell them of her who was and ever 
will be so inexpressibly dear to us all. In the school- 
room, in my sitting-room, in the nursery, there is, 
with the pictures of you and dear Papa, always one of 
dear Grandmama, and, in my room and the school- 
room, the Duke of Kent also. 

My sitting-room has only prints and lithographs, 
all Winterhalters, of the family : you and Papa, your 
receiving the Sacrament at the Coronation, Raphael's 

* A private plate, engraved for the Queen by the late Mr. Francis Holl, 
from a picture by Winterhalter. 



TRIALS. 307 

"DIsputa" and " Bella Jardlnierre," and the lovely 
little engraving of yourself from Winterhalter's pic- 
ture in Papa's room at Windsor.^' 

Vicky is coming here on Wednesday. The Grand 
Duke of Weimar has kindly allowed Mr. Ruland to 
join us as cicerone : which for galleries, etc., is very 
necessary, and we take no courier. Rome is our 
first halting-place in Italy, and for years it has been 
my dream and wish to be in that wonderful city, 
where the glorious monuments of antiquity and of 
the Middle Ages carry one back to those marvel- 
lous times. 

I am learning Italian, and studying the history and 
art necessary to enable me, in the short time we 
have, to see and understand the finest and most im- 
portant monuments. I am so entirely absorbed and 
interested in these studies just now, that I have not 
much time for other things. My father-in-law, per- 
haps Princess Charles too, will be with Aunt Marie 
of Russia at Sorrento then. William will probably 
join us at Rome ; he is quite a connoisseur in art, 
and a good historian, quite at home in Rome, about 
which he raves. I must say that I look forward im- 
mensely to this journey ; it opens a whole new life 
to one. '-* "^ * 

Kanne has made all arranofements for us at Rome. 
We shall leave here about the i8th of March. 

Rome, Hotel Allemagne, March 27th. 

■5f * * \Ye left the dear children well, but very 

sorry at parting. The two days at Munich were 

most interesting. The National Museum in its way 

surpasses any I have ever seen, and in originals is 

* Also engraved by the late Mr. Francis Holl for the Queen from a pic- 
ture given by Her Majesty to the Prince Consort on the 26th of August, 
1843. 



3o8 FJilNCESS ALICE. 

richer even than South Kensington. Aunt Marie- 
chen was very kind and dear ; the Moriers very 
amiable hosts, and we met some interesting people 
there. Two hours before we left, after eight in the 
evening, Ludwior and Otto* came to us and re- 
mained some time. 

The Brenner, over which we came, was covered 
with snow — most beautiful scenery, like St. Moritz 
in the Engadine. The journey was very fatiguing. 
We had a morning for Bologna, and had to wait 
three hours at Florence for the night train — time 
enough to drive round and in the town, which is 
most lovely. What trees, mountains, colors ! then 
the fine buildings ! 

The following- mornins^ at six we reached Rome. 
The sun was bright, the distance blue — the grand 
ruins dark and sharp against the sky, cypresses, stone 
pines, large cork oaks, making up such a beautiful 
picture. Every day I admire the scenery more and 
more ; every little bit of architecture, broken or 
whole, with a glimpse of the Campagna, a picturesque 
dirty peasant and a dark tree close by, is a picture 
in itself w^hich one would like to frame and hang up 
in one's room. It is too, too beautiful ! To tell you 
all we have seen and are seeing would tire you. 
Bertie and Arthur's descriptions, too, so lately have 
told you the same. 

The Via Appia, the grand old road lined with 
ruins of splendid tombs, leading from Albano through 
the Campagna to Rome, along which St. Paul went, 
and the great kings and emperors made their trium- 
phal entries, is a fit one to lead to such a city as 
Rome, which ruled the world. 

The antique monuments, those of the Middle 

* The King of Bavaria and his brother, first cousins of Prince Louis of 
Hesse. 



TRIALS. 309 

Ages, are so magnificent and interesting that as yet 
I don't know which to mention first or admire most! 

Our incognito did not last long (though even now 
we maintain it), for the Crown Princess heard of us 
and came to see us, as did the Crown Prince, and we 
had to 8:0 to the Ouirinal, a mornino;" visit without 
entonrao;e. 

Palm Sunday, Rome, April 6th. 

* w * -^g gg^^ l-|^g beginning of mass and 
blessing of the palms in St. Peter's this morning, 
with a procession and beautiful singing. Whilst the 
procession, with part of the choristers, go outside the 
church, some remain within, and they respond to 
each other, which produces a very striking effect. 
In spite of the bad style inside of St. Peter's, as a 
whole it produces 'a marvellous effect through its 
wonderful size and richness of decoration. 

I saw two convents yesterday : the Sepolte Vive, 
which Bertie and Alix saw, and where the nuns asked 
much after him, and said that he was molto amabile ; 
and another equally strict one, but not austere, 
where the Superior told me that Aunt Feodore with 
Princess Hohenzollern had paid them a visit. Mon- 
signore Howard was the only gentleman with me 
and the ladies, as they never see any men. Their 
idea is, that they spend the whole of their life in con- 
templation and prayer, so as to pray for those who 
cannot pray for themselves. 

The museums of the Vatican and of the Capitol, 
with their enormous collection of antiques, are very 
fine. The celebrated Venus, Apollo Belvidere, the 
Torso (which Michael Angelo admired so much, and 
was taken to touch when he could no more see it), 
the wounded Gladiator, etc., are there. The Sistine 
Chapel, with Michael Angelo's frescoes, which are 



3IO PRINCESS ALICE. 

certainly the most marvellous pieces of painting and 
conception, is very dark, and the frescoes are suffer- 
ing much from the smoke, dust, etc. Raphael's 
Stanze are far better preserved, and lighter than I 
had expected, and of such beauty ! 

I thought so often and so much of dear Papa, 
when I saw the originals of all the pictures he so 
much admired and took such interest in. How this 
alone "fascinates me I cannot tell you. In these gal- 
leries and churches there is only too much to be 
seen, besides the antique ruins, etc. You would be 
terrified to see how full our day is from before nine. 
Mr. Ruland is an excellent cicerone for pictures and 
sculptures. William is with us here since last Sun- 
day. 

We are going to the Villa Ludovisi this afternoon. 
The gardens of the Villa Doria Pamfili are most 
beautiful : the terraces there remind me of Osborne. 
I can see in many things where dear Papa got his 
ideas from for Osborne and for his decorations, 
which Professor Gruner understood so well to carry 
outo 

Many thanks for your having told Lady Churchill 
to send me an account of your opening of the Park."" 
I am glad that all went off so well, and that you were 
not the worse for it. 

I have quite refused going to Naples, We shall 
arrange probably to go for two days to Castellamare 
(one hour from Naples) ; from thence to Sorrento 
and Pompeii, and return here. As yet it is not hot 
here at all. 

Rome, April 9th. 

Let me thank you for your letter written on our 

* The opening of Victoria Park, in the East end of London, on the 2d of 
April. 



TRIALS. 311 

dear Victoria's birthday. I have never been away 
from her on her birthday before, and though we see 
such fine interesting things, yet I feel very homesick 
for the dear children always. In three weeks or less 
I shall see them again. I look forward all the time 
with perfect impatience, as I am so rarely separated 
from them, and we live so much together. Every 
other day Fraulein Kitz and Orchard write, so that 
I have news daily. 

Louis' father wrote me to-day, as his sister asks 
us to her house at Sorrento for one or two niehts 
for the 1 2th ; but as I was rather deranged from a 
sick headache yesterday, I shall w^ait a day before 
we decide. It is wet and quite cold to-day. 

We visited San Clemente two days ago, and 
Father Mulooly took us through the three churches — 
one under the other. The antique one was full of 
water, and we walked about on rickety planks, each 
with a lighted taper, as it is quite dark there. It is 
most curious, and the old paintings on the walls tell- 
ing the legend of St. Clement are wonderfully full of 
expression and feehng for the time they were done. 

Rome, April 19th. 

* * ^' Our visit to Sorrento went off well. 
We got there at one on Monday morning for lunch- 
eon. The sun had given me a dreadful headache, 
which ended in sickness, so that I could not leave 
my room. Marie sat with me, and was very dear 
and kind. The next day, she and my Aunt, who 
seems tired and dispirited, had bad headaches. We 
went with my father-in-law and some of the ladies 
and gentlemen on the following afternoon in the 
Empress' yacht to Capri, close by, to see the blue 
grotto. 

The Bay of Naples, particularly seen from Sor- 



312 PRINCESS ALICE. 

rento, is most lovely — like a beautiful dream — the 
colors, the outlines are so perfect. 

We breakfasted together in the mornino- with 
Aunt and Marie, and on Tuesday we took our leave. 

We shall go to Florence the 23d, (the first station 
homeward) ; remain there three or four days ; one 
niMit at Verona, and then home. It is a fatieuine 
journey, and we have so often had people in the 
carriage, which is very unpleasant — some very rude 
English, going to Sorrento ; they did not know us. 

Florence, April 25th. 

Your kind wishes I received early this morning. 
Thousand thanks for them, and for the presents 
which I shall find on ofettine home. 

I shall be so glad to have a large photograph of 
yourself. Thirty years! Good-bye, youth! but I 
feel quite as old as I am, though the time has flown 
by so fast. I would it had flown as well as it has 
fast ! I look back to the past with great gratitude to 
the Almighty for innumerable blessings, and pray 
our lile may continue so blest. I have a very bad 
headache — neuralgia ; I have it continually ; and the 
journey is very, long and tiring. Darling Ernie 
wanted to buy something for my birthday, and he 
thought a china doll with a bath would be the best. 
I am glad Victoria remembered to write to Beatrice 
as I told her; they are very fond of their Auntie. 

Florence seems a beautiful town, and the situation 
amongst the hills, over which the suburbs spread, is 
most picturesque. 

I enclose the last telegrams from Sorrento. It is 
Jievre du pays which Marie had. We remained at 
Rome a day longer on account of poor Alfred. He 
is very patient and hopeful. 

The King, whom we saw at the races, sends you 



TRIALS. 313 

his respects, and was delighted with the cream- 
colored horse you sent him. Many thanks for the 
flowers. I enclose two from here. The account of 
your giving away the colors "" I had already read 
with interest. 

We must go to the Grand Duchess Marie to-mor- 
row ; Monday to Verona, twelve hours ; next morn- 
ing to Munich, and that night to Darmstadt. How 
I look forward to seeinof the dear children ! It seems 
to me an age since we parted. 

Darmstadt, June 9th. 

Tender thanks for your last letter, and for every 
word of sympathy ! The weary days drag on, and 
bring much pain at times, though there are moments 
of comfort, and even consolation. 

The horror of my darling's sudden death f at 
times torments me too much, particularly waking of 
a morning ; but when I think he is at rest, free from 
the sorrow we are suffering, and from every evil to 
come, I feel quite resigned. He was such a bright 
child. It seems so quiet next door ; I miss the little 
feet, the coming to me, for we lived so much to- 
gether, and Ernie feels so lost, poor love. 

We were at the Mausoleum with all the children 
yesterday evening. It is a quiet spot amidst trees 
and flowers, with a lovely view toward the hills and 
plain. He loved flowers so much. I can't see one 
along the roadside without wishing to pick it for him. 

There is a young sculptor from Stuttgart, who 
was accidently here, and, meeting the children, had 
asked permission to make medallions of them. The 

* To the 79th Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, at Parkhurst, on the 
l6th of April. 

f The allusion is to the death of the little Prince Frederick, who was 
killed on the 2glh of the previous month by a fall from a window. 



314 PRINCESS ALICE. 

last afternoon sweet Frittie had sat to him, and he is 
now making a lovely bust ot him, which is getting 
very like. 

On Wednesday my mother-in-law, with her three 
sons, goes to Berlin ; on Thursday Uncle Adalbert'"'' 
will be buried in the Dom. 

We sha'n't be able to go to Seeheim until Satur- 
day. 

How too kind of you to have asked us to Osborne ! 
How a rest and home air w^ould have revived me — 
and the pleasure of seeing you again ; but Louis 
cannot leave until after his birthday. If he did get 
leave, it would so throw him out before he has to 
command ; and, having been absent this spring, he 
feels it an impossibility, and this I am sure you will 
understand. I could not leave him or the children. 
Our circle has grown smaller, and drawn us all the 
more together with a dread of parting from each 
other. We thank you a thousand times for the kind 
offer. 

Seeheim, June 22d. 

* * * I do earnestly hope that too long a 
time may not elapse before we meet. 

It is very hot, and I feel very low and unhappy. 

To-morrow this house will be full, and all the 
Russians, etc., close by. Had there only been any 
other quiet country place to be at, how gladly would 
I have escaped this. 

* * * It is only three weeks to-day since we 
took our darling to his last resting-place ! I wish I 
could go there to-day, but it is too hot and too 
far. 

Fritz and Louise of Baden came two davs ao"o to 
Darmstadt, to see my parents-in-law and us. 

* Princess Charles' brother, Prince Adalbert of Prussia. 



TRIALS. 315 

Dr, Macleod's letter is very kind. 

I enclose two photographs of dear Frittie out of 
groups, the negative of one of which unluckily does 
not exist any more. The little blouse is the one he 
had on on that terrible day. My darling sweet 
child — to have lost him so ! To my grave shall I 
carry this sorrow with me. 

In the book you sent me there Is a fine poem by 
Miss Procter, "Our grief, our friend," called "Friend 
Sorrow," which expresses so much what I myself feel 
about a deep grief. 

Seeheim, June 27th. 

* *^ * It was just four weeks yesterday since 
our darlino- died, and we went to the Mausoleum. I 
felt the whole weight of my sorrow, and the terrible 
shock doubly again. But the precious child does 
not — that is a comfort. He is happy and at rest, 
whilst we grieve and mourn. Ernie always prays for 
Frittie, and talks to me of him when we walk together. 

Aunt Marie arrived at two on Monday, and a few 
hours later came to see me, and was so sympathizing, 
motherly, and loving ; it touched me much. At such 
moments she is peculiarly soft and womanly, and she 
loves her own children so tenderly. She cried much, 
and told me of the sad death of her eldest girl, who 
was seven, and of the terrible, irreparable loss her 
eldest son was to her. She has such a relieious, 
truly resigned way of looking at great sorrows such 
as these. In the room I am now living in Aunt 
Marie had seen Frittie in his bath two years ago, 
and she remembered all about him. She is coming 
to " Sunshine's " toilet this evening ; it always amuses 
her, and she is very fond of the children. 

Seeheim, July 9th. 

* * * There are days which seem harder than 



3l6 FlilNCESS ALICE. 

Others, and when I feel very heartsick, prayer and 
quiet and solitude do me good. 

I hear Affie comes on Thursday night. This 
evening the Emperor arrives. Poor Marie '"* is very 
happy, and so quiet. ''^ * * How I feel for the 
parents, this only daughter (a character of Hingebting 
[perfect devotion] to those she loves), the last child 
entirely at home, as the parents are so much away 
that the two youngest, on account of their studies, 
no more travel about. 

Seeheim, July 26th. 

■^"' * '"- I am glad that you have a little colored 
picture of my darling, I feel lower and sadder than 
ever, and miss him so much, so continually. There 
is such a gap between Ernie and Sunny, and the 
two boys were such a pretty pair, and were become 
such companions. Having so many girls, I was so 
proud of our two boys ! The pleasure did not last 
long, but he is mine more than ever now. He seems 
near me always, and I carry his precious image in 
my heart everywhere. That can never fade or die I 

Seeheim, August 2d. 
Many thanks for your dear letter ! I am feeling 
so low and weak to-day that kind words are doubly 
soothing. You feel so with me, when you under- 
stand how long and deep my grief must be. And 
does one not grow to love one's grief, as having be- 
come part of the being one loved — as if through this 
one could still pay a tribute of love to them, to make 
up for the terrible loss, and missing of not being able 
to do any thing for the beloved one any more ? -|- I 

* The Grand Duchess Marie, who was engaged on the nth of July to the 
Duke of Edinburgh. 

\ How these words recall those of Constance {King John, act iii., scene 4)-' 
Grief fills the room up of my absent child, 
Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me, 



TRIALS. 317 

am so much with my children, and am so accustomed 
to care for them and their wants daily, that I miss 
not having Frittie, the object of our greatest care, 
far more than words can describe ; and in the quiet 
of our every-day life, where we have only the children 
around us, it is doubly and trebly felt, and is a sor- 
row that has entered into the very heart of our 
existence. 

May the hour of trial and grief bring its blessing 
with it, and not have come in vain ! The day passes 
so quickly, when one can do good and make others 
happy, and one leaves always so much undone. I 
feel more than ever, one should put nothing off; and 
children grow up so quickly and leave one, and I 
would lonor that mine should take nothino- but the 
recollection of love and happiness from their home 
with them into the world's fight, knowing that they 
have there always a safe harbor, and open arms to 
comfort and encourage them when they are in 
trouble. I do hope that this may become the case, 
though the lesson for parents is so difficult, being 
continually ^z'z/z;^^, without always finding the return. 

Dear Fannie Baillie has been a few days here, and 
goes to England to-day. I shall miss her so much. 
I am so very fond of her. I hope you will see her ; 
she will bring you many messages from us. 

Seeheim, August 13th. 
* * * After endless difficulties it has been 
settled that we can go to the Mainau. I am so far 
from strong and well that a change is necessary, and 
we shall go on the i5th, as Louise of Baden pro- 
posed, and I have written this to her. 

Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words, 
Remembers me of all his gracious parts, 
Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form ; 
Then have I reason to be fond of grief. 



3l8 PRINCESS ALICE. 

How you will enjoy the rest at Balmoral ! After 
so much going on you must require it. 

Helene Reuter is coming here for a fortnight with 
her boy— Ernest's age. Poor boy, he longs for a 
playfellow. 

Seeheim, August 1 6th. 

* * * Louis joins with me in saying that we 
shall gratefully accept your wish that we should 
come to Windsor, and he trusts there will be no 
difficulties for leave then. * * ^' 

Seeheim, September 7th. 

* -"- -:^- You ask if I can play yet ? I feel as if 
I could not, and I have not yet done so. In my 
own house it seems to me as if I never could play 
again on that piano, where little hands were nearly 
always thrust when I wanted to play. Away from 
home — in England — much sooner. I had played so 
often lately that splendid, touching funeral march of 
Chopin's, and I remember it is the last thing I 
played, and then the boys were running in the 
room. 

Mary Teck came to see me and remained two 
nights, so warm-hearted and sympathizing. I like 
to talk of him to those who love children, and can 
understand how great the gap, how intense the pain, 
the ending of a little bright existence causes. 

Soon I shall have my Louis back. I long for him 
very much ; but the change of air, the active 
out-door life, and being quite thrown into men's 
society and occupations, must refresh body and 
mind. Here he has only me, the governess and 
children as Umgang. But he is what the Germans 
call ein Haushammel — it is what he likes best. 

We shall do nothing for his birthday. The chil- 



TRIALS. 319 

dren will recite their poems and write little things, 
and his parents will come to our five o'clock tea. 

Heiden, Appenzell, October 7th. 

How kind of you to remember our darling's birth- 
day ; we both thank you for this. Sad and many are 
our thoughts. I think of my loneliness and anxiety 
when he was born, with Louis far away in the midst 
of dangfer — a sad and awful time to come into the 
world ; but sweet Frittie was my comfort and occu- 
pation, a second son, a pleasure to us both ! Now all 
this is wiped out, and our parents' hearts are sore, 
and askino- for the dear brio^ht face we miss so much 
from amonofst our circle of children ! He ended his 
fight very soon. May we all follow in a way as 
peaceful, with as little struggle and pain, and leave 
an imaee of as much love and brio-htness behind, 
to be a blessed remembrance for the rest of our 
lives ! 

I can't write on any other subject to-day, there- 
fore close these short lines with much love from 
your devoted child, Alice. 

Darmstadt, November 14th. 
* ^' * It is very kind of you to ask about the 
rooms. I should prefer living in the tapestry rooms 
this time. It won't be like the last time — though 
after our house here, so full of happy and heart-rend- 
ing recollections, I go through continual pangs, 
which It will take many a year to soften down, as 
you can understand. 

Buckingham Palace, December 20th. 
Beloved Mama : — How much I thank you for 
your dear precious letter, and for all the true love 
and considerate sympathy you showed me during 



320 PRINCESS ALICE. 

our visit ! It has soothed and comforted me, I 
assure you, and will be a pleasure and satisfaction 
for me to look back to the many pleasant talks we 
had tog-ether. 

Louis, who has always been so devoted to you, 
was touched to tears, as I was, by your expressions 
of love to us and to our children. 

Thank you also for all advice, which is so precious 
to me, and in following it I shall like to think that I 
am doing something that you told me. 

How much I felt in parting from you I cannot 
say. Neither did I like to speak of it, for it was too 
much, and the harder things in life are better borne 
in silence, as none can bear them for one, and they 
must be fought out by one's self. 

Ernie and Irene send endless loves to you, to 
Uncle and Auntie. Sunny's hand is better. 

Tilla came to see me yesterday, and we both 
drove with her to the Memorial.* 

■;:- :•: :■: i^i-^gj-g jg gQ mucli I would run on about, 
now the dear habit of intercourse together has once 
more become so natural to me. Writine is at best 
a poor rei7iplagan,t. 

Once more from both of us warm and tender 
thanks for so much love and kindness ! Love to 
Leopold and Beatrice ; kind remembrances to all 
who surround you ! From your grateful and de- 
voted child, Alice. 

Buckingham Palace, December 21st. 

* * * It is fine and warm and still. I hope it 
will be so early to-morrow when we cross over. I 
shall telegraph how the passage has been. 

Please thank Brown for his kind wishes. I am so 
sorry that I missed saying good-bye to several. To 

^ * To the Prince Consort in Hyde Park. 



TRIALS. 321 

say the truth, I dreaded it. It is always so painful. 
The old Baron's "' way of disappearing was almost 
the best. 



1874. 

During the first months of this year the Princess 
had the comfort of seeing many of her relations. 
The year was chiefly spent in retirement, and de- 
voted to many sad memories. On the 24th of May 
she gave birth to a daughter, whose christening took 
place on the nth of July at Jugenheim, near Darm- 
stadt, in the presence of the Empress of Russia and 
the Duke of Edinburgh. The child received the 
names of Marie Victoria Feodora Leopoldine. 

The hottest part of the summer was spent at Blank- 
enberghe for the use of sea-baths. In September 
the great manoeuvres of the Eleventh Army Corps 
took place in Upper Hesse, where the Princess met 
the Emperor of Germany. 

The Princess' charitable institutions were all pros- 
pering, and assuming larger and larger proportions ; 
amongst them the Princess' own hospital was by de- 
grees slowly approaching completion. It was the 
institution she had the most at heart. It was intended 
to be a training-school for those who intended to 
become nurses, and a home for probationers whose 
training was at an end. It was also to serve as a 
model of those reforms in sanitary arrangements 
which the Princess had so much at heart. 

* Baron Slockmar had such a dislike of leave-takings that he never let it 
be known when he was going away from the English Court. The first inti- 
mation of his intention was — that he was already gone. 



322 PRINCESS ALICE. 

When the provisional English hospital at Darm- 
stadt (already mentioned during the war in 1870) 
had been taken over by the Hessian authorities, all 
its furniture, appointments, etc., were left to the 
" Alice Ladies' Union " for the small hospital which 
it had started, aided by a small body of doctors in 
Darmstadt, This was the origin of the *' Alice Hos- 
pital," begun in a very small humble way in a cramped 
little house in the Mauer-Strasse. The Frauen-Verein 
had undertaken, when the English National Society 
for Aid to the Sick and Wounded had made over 
their hospital to them, either to build quite a new 
one or thoroughly to reorganize the existing one on 
the Mauer-Strasse. There were no funds to build a 
new hospital ; therefore the " Alice Ladies' Union," 
could only resort to the other alternative, and this 
was carried out to the letter, by additional buildings 
and a totally new arrangement of its interior. As 
time went on, it was found advisable to give the 
hospital a dictinct administration, and to separate it 
from the " Alice Ladies' Union," placing special 
funds at its disposal. This never would have come 
to pass, nor would the hospital have proved the suc- 
cess it did, had it not been for the untiring zeal, 
perseverance, economy, and practical knowledge of 
the lady directing it. During the summer months 
of 1874, a lady well acquainted with German and 
English hospitals — a trained nurse herself — became 
Lady Superintendent of the training - school for 
nurses, and of the hospital generally, which gradual- 
ly, but surely, was gaining in importance. 



TRIALS. 323 

The Alice Union for the Employment of Women 
made a further step in advance during this year, and 
established itself on a firm broad basis under the 
name of "The Alice Society for the Education and 
Employment of Women of all Classes." Of this the 
Princess was the President, whilst Fraulein Louise 
Buchner directed the whole. The gentlemen and 
ladies who formed the committee were chosen by 
the Princess. All worked most harmoniously to- 
gether; and the Princess was as anxious to receive 
advice from others in matters concerning the society 
as she was glad to give it herself 

Darmstadt, January 12th. 

* * * Hoiv low and miserable I am at times in 
these rooms, particularly when I go to bed, I cannot 
tell you ! The impression of all is so vivid and 
heart-rending. I could cry out for pain sometimes. 

Till the first year is round this will often return, I 
know, and must be borne as part of the sorrow! 

January i6th. 

* * * I know well what your grief and your 
bereavement were compared to mine ; but they are 
such different sorrows, I don't think one can well 
compare them. Your life was broken — upset : 
altered from the very roots, through the one you 
lost ; my life is unchanged, save in the mother's 
heart the blank, the pain which thousands of little 
things awaken — which by the world, even by the 
family, are scarcely felt ; and this ofttimes loneliness 
of sentiment clouds one's life over with a quiet 
sorrow which is felt in every thing. * * * 

Darmstadt, January 23d. 
On our dear Affie's [Prince Alfred's] wedding- 



324 PRINCESS ALICE. 

day, a few tender words. It must seem so strange 
to you not to be near him. My thoughts are con- 
stantly with them all, and we have only the Times' 
account, for no one writes here — they are all too 
busy, and of course all news comes to you. What 
has Augusta [Lady Augusta Stanley] written, and 
Vicky and Bertie ? Any extracts or other news- 
paper accounts but what we see would be most 
welcome. 

We give a dinner to-night to the family and 
enfourap-e, and Russian and Eno^Hsh leQ^ations. * ■^'' * 

Louis sends you his love and warmest wishes for 
yourself and the happiness of the dear pair, in which 
I most earnestly join. God bless and protect them, 
and may all turn out well ! 

Darmstadt, January 28th. 

* * * Dear Marie [the Duchess of Edinburgh] 
seems to make the same impression on all. How 
glad I am she is so quite what I thought and hoped. 
Such a wife must make Affie happy, and do him 
good, and be a great pleasure to yourself, which I 
always like to think. I shall read to my mother-in- 
law the letters, and show them to Bauerlein. Both 
will be very grateful for being allowed to see them. 

We are going from Saturday to Monday to Carls- 
ruhe. The eldest girls and Bauerlein, who is going 
to take charge of them for a week, are going with us. 

* * * One day we have six degrees of heat, 
the next two or four of cold ; it is very unwhole- 
some. 

Carlsruhe, February 2d. 

I have a little time before breakfast to thank you 

so very much for the enclosures, also the Dean's 

[Stanley] letter through dear Beatrice. We are most 

orateful for beingf allowed to hear these most interest- 



TRIALS. 325 

ing reports ! It brings every thing so much nearer. 
How pleasant it is to receive only satisfactory re- 
ports ! I fear Aunt Marie is far from well. I should 
be very anxious, for she is like a fading flower. 

All the family, Hohenlohes and Holsteins, send 
their duty. All their respective children and ours 
were together yesterday afternoon. I hope not to 
seem vain, if it strikes me that amongst all the children 
my girls usually carry away the palm. Victoria is in 
such good looks at present ; they are both natural 
and real children, and as such I hope to be able to 
retain them lonof. 

Sophie Weiss '^ came to see me yesterday. I was 
very glad to be able to give her so good an account 
of you, and how young you looked when I had that 
great happiness of those few short days at Windsor, 
which did me good in every respect. Old Frau von 
Bunsen, now eighty-three, I went to see — such a 
charming old lady, fresh in her mind, with snow- 
white hair. You and Papa were the topic she en- 
joyed speaking about, and our brothers and sisters. 

Darmstadt, March 2d. 
* ^'' * My nice Miss Graves I could so well 
have taken when Kitty left, but I was so anxious 
for a German, though I was much inclined toward 
her ; I thought a German more important than it 
really is. Not the nationality but the individuality 
is the first thing ; and here I think I have succeeded 
in finding the right person. ^'' * * 

Darmstadt, March nth. 
% ♦ % \ hope you were not the worst for all 
your exertions. The Times accounts are charming. 
Such a warm reception must have touched Marie, 

* A former Dresser of the Queen's, 



326 PRINCESS ALICE. 

and shown how the Eng^Hsh cHnof to their Sovereipfn 
and her house. 

We have cold, snow, and dust, after quite warm 
weather. I trust you will have sunshine to-morrow. 

This last fortnight the news from Ashantee has so 
absorbed our thouorhts. It has been an arduous un- 
dertaking, and one's heart warms to our dear troops, 
who under all difficulties sustain their old name for 
bravery and endurance. The poor 420! [Regiment] 
lost many through illness, too ; and I see they en- 
tered Coomassie playing the bagpipes ! 

Louis is just reading to me Sir Hope Grant's book 
on the Indian Mutiny, which he kindly sent me, and 
which is interesting and pleasant to read. 

I am taking the first snowdrops to sweet Frittie's 
grave. How the first flowers he so dearly loved 
bring tears to my eyes, and recollections which 
wring my heart anew ! I dread these two next 
months with their flowers and their birds. Good 
bye, darling Mama. 

Darmstadt, April 7th. 

vr * -;:- Surely Marie must feel it very deeply, 
for to leave so delicate and loving a mother must 
seem almost wronof. How strange this side of hu- 
man nature always seems — leaving all you love most, 
know best, owe all debts of gratitude to, for the com- 
paratively unknown ! The lot of parents is indeed 
hard, and of such self-sacrifice. 

April nth. 

* :i: * 'pj-jg children are too much an object 
here ; they have too little to compare with ; they 
would be benefited by a change, seeing other things 
and people, else they get into a groove, which I know 
is not good. They are very unspoilt in their tastes, 
and simple and quiet children, which I think of the 
greatest importance,. 



TRIALS. 327 

Louis Battenberg has passed a first-rate examina- 
tion. The parents are so happy, and the influence 
the good conduct and steady work of the elder 
brother has on the younger is of the greatest use, 
as they wish to follow him, and be as well spoken of, 
and please their parents, as he does. ^ -^ * 

April 15th. 
My best thanks for your dear letter of the 13th. 
You say rightly, what a fault it is of parents to bring 
up their daughters with the main object of marrying 
them. This is said to be a too prominent feature in 
the modern English education of the hia-her classes. 
^^ * " I want to strive to bring up the girls 
without seeking this as the sole object for the future — 
to feel they can fill up their lives so well otherwise. 

* ■^'" ^'<' A marriao-e for the sake of marriage is 

surely the greatest mistake a woman can make )'^"" * ■^'"■ 
I know what an absorbing feeling that of devotion to 
one's parent is. When I was at home, it filled my 
whole soul. It does still, in a great degree, and 
Heimweh [homesickness] does not cease after ever 
so long an absence. ^^ * '''"■ 

Darmstadt, April 23d. 

* * * I thought so much of your remarks 
about daughters, etc., and do think it so natural and 
dutiful to remain with one's parent as long as one is 
wanted. Is it not a duty when no one else can take 
one's place ? I should feel it so. 

April 26th. 

I thank you most tenderly for your loving wishes 
for my birthday, received on getting up yesterday 
morning. You can understand that the day was in- 
expressibly sad, that the fair head missing in our 
circle was painfully felt, and that all these recollec- 



328 PRINCESS ALICE. 

tions caused me endless tears and heartache — though 
not for him, sweet precious child. 

As you say, life at best is a struggle ; happy those 
who can lie down to rest, having fought their battle 
well ; or those who have been spared fighting it at 
all, and have remained pure and untouched, barely 
touching this earth, so mixed up with grief and sin ! 

Let me thank you for the charming photographs, 
and for the present toward the layette — a most kind 
assistance. 

* * =^ We went to the Mausoleum. The child- 
ren had made me wreaths to take there, and we all 
went together. How often and tenderly Ernie speaks 
of Frittie ! It is very touching, and speaks of his 
deep and warm heart. He said the other day — for 
the recollection of death has left such a deep impres- 
sion, and he cannot reconcile it with life, it pains him, 
— "When I die, you must die too, and all the others ; 
why can't all die together? I don't like to die alone, 
like Frittie." Poor child! the wish that all have, 
who love their own, so early expressed. * * ''^' 

May 4th. 

Many thanks for your last dear letter written on 
dear Arthur's birthday, of which, though late, I wish 
you joy. Such a good, steady, excellent boy as he 
is! What a comfort it must be to you, never to have 
had any cause of uneasiness or annoyance in his con- 
duct! He is so much respected, which for one so 
young is doubly praiseworthy. From St. Peters- 
burg, as from Vienna, we heard the same account of 
the steady line he holds to, in spite of all chaffing, 
etc., from others; which shows character. 

My mother-in-law tells me that since Miechen has 
been allowed to retain her religion, this right will of 
course be conceded to all Princesses in future. What 



TRIALS. 329 

a good thing, for the changing I always thought too 
bad, and nowadays so intolerant and narrow. ^^^ * * 
To think of Mr. Van de Weyer also leaving this 
world! To you he will be a loss, and to all who 
knew him. Old friends are precious landmarks in 
the history of one's life, and not to be replaced by 
new ones ; and it is sad, how time reduces the num- 
ber as one gets on in life. How deeply you must 
feel this with each fresh loss! I feel much for 
you. * ''•"■ * 

Darmstadt, May i8th. 
^ ^' "^ Since 1867 the Emperor's [of Russia] 
face shrank so, and he became so thin. When I first 
saw him, in 1864, he was much stouter and fresher 
looking. He has many cares, and one sees they 
weigh upon him, for he is so kind and so well-mean- 
ing, and has done so much to advance liberty and 
culture in his own country. 

Darmstadt, June 5tli. 
Beloved Mama: — * •^" * The day (Whitsunday, 
and dear Frittie's burial-day) of baby's birth would 
have been too sad, had not the fact of its being your 
birthday given a double significance ; but when I 
heard those bells, and became conscious again of 
every thing, my feelings were deep and mingled be- 
yond expression, * * * With repeated tender 
thanks, your most loving child, Alice. 

June nth. 
* '^ * Having no cow, or country place to keep 
one, in this tremendous heat where one can't keep 
milk, and dysentery carries off so many babies, it 
would not be fair to deprive the poor little thing of 
its natural and safest nourishment till the hot months 



330 PRINCESS ALICE.. 

are over. These, darling Mama, are my reasons, 
and though I do it with such pleasure, yet it is not 
without sacrifices of comfort and convenience, etc.; 
but it seems to me the best course to take for our 
children, and as we are situated. 

Many thanks for being baby's godmother! It 
gives us great pleasure. 

Do thank all our good people for their kind 
interest. "" * * 

I am drivinof out this afternoon if cool enoueh. 
You must not tell one of the heavenly Scotch air, 
when one is breathing heated stove air ; it makes 
one too envious. 

July i3tli. 

The christening went off very well. Baby looked 
really pretty for so young an individual. It was in a 
large room. Marie [Duchess of Edinburgh], quite 
in pink, held her godchild ; and my mother-in-law, 
with her best love, begs me to tell you, it had 
pleased her so much that you had asked her to rep- 
resent you. My three older girls looked very nice, 
I thought, in lavender silk (your Christmas present). 
I had the same color, and " Sunny " in pink, was 
immensely admired. She is still improving in looks 
since you saw her. 

I was glad it was another place, in different cir- 
cumstances from the last christening. As it was, it 
moved me much. The last time I heard these 
words, darling Frittie was with us, and now the 
chain has a gap ! 

■fc- * * ^/-g ^^j^ g.^^ nothing at Scheveningen 
except at exorbitant prices, so we go to that dread- 
ful Blankenberghe — without tree or bush, nothing 
but a beach and sand banks. 



TRIALS. 331 

Blankenberghe, July 24th. 

The sea air is doing all good, the children espe- 
cially, the heat had pulled them so. 

I have bathed once, and hope it will agree. * "^'" * 
My cough and relaxed throat are getting better. 

The rooms are small and few, but clean, and the 
cooking good, and we are quite satisfied. There is 
not a soul one knows. 

Blankenberghe, August i6th. 

This day makes me think of our dear kind Grand- 
mama, whose imao-e still dwells amonorst us ! None 
who ever knew her can forget how truly lovable she 
was ; and we grandchildren will ever retain such a 
bright recollection of her. So many little attentions, 
small souvenirs, kind letters, all tokens of affection 
so pleasing to the receivers. 

Yesterday Louis saved a lady from drowning. 
He was bathing. The waves were high, and he 
heard a cry for help, and saw a bather struggling. 
She had lost her footing. Her husband tried to 
help her, but was exhausted and let her go ; equally 
so the brother-in-law, and Louis felt he was losing 
his strength, but she kept her presence of mind and 
floated. He let her eo once till a wave brought her 
near him again, and he caught her hand and brought 
her in, feeling quite done himself I was not in the 
sea at the time, for the waves were so tremendous 
that I lost my footing several times, and had come 
out, fearing an accident. The lady is a Mrs. T. 
Sligo, a Scotchwoman, and she has just written to 
me to thank Louis. He is a good swimmer, and 
very strong. The gentlemen are two grey-haired 
Scotchmen. 

Ella has so wonderfully improved since she has 
been here. She is no more pale and languid, and 
Ernie is another child also. 



332 PHINCESS ALICE. 

Luckily it has not been warm, so the air and baths 
are doubly efficacious. They have done me a world 
of good. I feel quite different to what I have done 
ever since Sunny's birth. I believe the sea to be 
the only thing for such a relaxed state, and, being 
strong and healthy by nature, I can't bear not being 
well, and feelinof so weak. Miss Graves has re- 
turned, but the girls have been very good — no 
trouble at all. 

Kranichstein, August 26th. 

On dear Papa's birthday I must send you a few 
lines. The past is ever bright and vivid in my mind, 
though year after year intervenes. How must it be 
for you, who live surrounded by such precious recol- 
lections of the happy past ! 

I think doubly of you to-day, and doubly tenderly, 
sweet Mama ! 

I got home quite right, and found the house here 
cold. There was no sun, and our rooms being to 
the north, and the wood so near, makes them feel 
chilly. 

I am glad dear Leopold bore the journey well. 
The air will do him good in his weakened state. 

The day at Laeken was quiet and pleasant. Marie 
is still thinner, and more aged, I think. The loss of 
that nice boy weighs on them still, and they spoke 
much about it, and she with many tears. 

Every one has his burden to bear, and must bear 
it alone with trust and resignation — that is the thing 
to struggle and to pray for. 

Kranichstein, September ist. 

vc- v!- ^i J ^-[^2X1 get a comforter done for good 

Mrs. Brown, kind old woman. I am glad she does 

not forget me, and shall be pleased to do any little 

thing that can give her pleasure. Will you tell her 



TRIALS. 333 

the plaid she made me still goes everywhere with 
me ? How is Mrs. Grant ? 

Louis is gone, and I have a good deal to do every 
day. We breakfast at half-past eight, then I have 
baby, and take the children out till eleven. I then 
have business, baby, and, at one, the elder girls al- 
ternately for French reading. After luncheon I 
write my letters, etc., and before five go out. In the 
evenings I read, and have supper at eight with the 
two ladies. 

Ella is another child since she has been at the sea- 
side—fine color, no longer pale and languid, learns 
well, and is quite different. Ernie the same, bright 
and fresh ; while before they had been looking pulled 
and weak, outo-rowine their strenorth. 

" Sunny " is the picture of robust health, and sweet 
little " sister Maly " sits up quite alone, and is very 
neat and rosy, with such quick eyes, and two deep 
dimples in her cheeks — a great pet, and so like my 
poor Frittie. 

The return here has been very painful, and days 
of great depression still come, when I am tormented 
with the dreadful remembrance of the day I lost him. 
Too cruel and aofonizinof are those thoughts. I dwell 
on his rest and peace, and that our sufferings he can- 
not know. What might not life have brought him ? 
Better so ! but hard to say, " God's will be done." 

Kranichstein, September 15th. 

* -» •?'- 'g conversion has created no smaller 

sensation with us than elsewhere, and the Times 
criticised his step so sharply. It remains a retro- 
grade movement for any Protestant, how much more 
so for a man of his stamp ! Quite incomprehensible 
to me. 

* "' * This Catholic movement is so un-English, 



334 PRINCESS ALICE. 

I think, among those Ritualists there are bond fide 
CathoHcs who help to convert. ■"''' * * 

I will send you sweet little Maly's photograph 
next time, * "' ^ Baby has a very fair skin, 
light-brown hair and deep-blue eyes with marked 
eyebrows, not much color in her cheeks, but pink 
and healthy-looking altogether. 

Kranichstein, September 24th, 
^^'—%~~-~%~^ People with strong feelings and of ner- 
vous temperament, for which one is no more respon- 
sible than for the color of one's eyes, have things to 
fight against and to put up with, unknown to those 
of quiet, equable dispositions, who are free from vio- 
lent emotions, and have consequently no feeling of 
neryes-:T-still less, of irritable nerves. If I did not 
control mine as much as I could, they would be 
dreadful. * * ^'^ One can overcome a great deal 
— but alter one's self one cannot. * -^^ * 

October 31st, 
* * * / I always think, that in the end. children 
educate the parents./ For their sakes there is so 
much one must do : one must forget one's self, if 
every thing is as it ought to be. It is doubly so, if 
one has the misfortune to lose a precious child. 
RiJckert's lovely lines are so true (after the loss of 
two of his children) : 

Nun hat euch Gott verlieh'n, was wir audi wollten thun, 
Wir wollten euch erzieh'n, und ihr erzieht uns nun. 
O Kinder, ihr erziehet mit Schmerz die Eltern jetzt ; 
Ihr zieht an uns, und ziehet uns auf zu euch zuletzt.* 

Yesterday Ernie was telling Orchard that I was 

* Now unto 5'ou the Lord has done what we had wished to do ; 
We would liave train'd you up, and now 'tis we are train'd by- you. 
With grief and tears, O children, do you your parents train, 
And lure us on and up to you, to meet in heaven again. 



TRIALS. 335 

going to plant some Spanish chestnuts, and she said : 
" Oh, I shall be dead and gone before they are big ; 
what a pity we had none sooner ! " and Ernie burst 
out crying and said : " No, you must not die alone — 
I don't like people to die alone ; we must die all to- 
gether ! " He has said the same to me before, poor 
darling. After Lenchen's [Princess Christian's] boys 
were gone, and he had seen Eddy and Georgy [sons 
of the Prince of Wales], his own loss came fresh upon 
him, and he cried for his little brother! It is the 
remaining behind the loss, the missing of the 
dear ones, that is the cruel thing to bear. Only 
time can teach one that, and resignation to a Higher 
Will. ""' ^- * 

Darmstadt, November 9th. 
^ % % The new Church laws (similar to the 
Prussian) go through our Upper Chamber to-morrow, 
and will meet with great opposition. Louis is, of 
course, for accepting them, as a check must be put 
on the Catholics ; for the Catholic clergy are paid by 
the State as well as the Protestant, so that the State 
has an equal right over both ; but this right the 
Catholics have for years managed to evade. The 
Bishop of Mayence is doing his utmost to create 
every possible obstacle, but it is to be hoped that one 
will not here have to have recourse to the method 
of fines and imprisonment as in Prussia ''' * ^ 

November i6th. 
Many thanks for your dear letter, and for the 
advice, which, as a mark of your interest in our 
children, is very precious, besides being so good ! 
What you mention I have never lost sight of, and 
there is, as you say,- nothing more injurious for 
children than that they should be made a fuss about. 



336 PHINCESS ALICE. 

I want to make them unselfish, unspoiled, and con- 
tented ; as yet this is the case. That they take a 
greater place in my life, than is often the case in 02ir 
families, comes from my not being able to have 
enough persons of a responsible sort to take charge 
of them always ; certain things rem.ain undone from 
that reason, if I do not do them, and they would be 
the losers. I certainly do not belong by nature to 
those women who are above all wife ; but circum- 
stances have forced me to be the mother in the real 
sense, as in a private family, and I had to school my- 
self to it, I assure you, for many small self-denials 
have been necessary. Baby-worship, or having the 
children indiscriminately about one, is not at all the 
right thing; and a perpetual talk about one's children 
makes some~women intolerable. I hope I steer clear 
of these faults — at least I try to do so, for I can only 
agree in every word you say, as does Louis, to whom 
I read it ; and he added when I was reading your 
remarks : " Das thust Du aber nicht. Die Kinder 
und andere Menschen wissen gar nicht, was Du fiir. 
sie thust " ["But you don't do so. Neither the chil- 
dren nor anybody else knows what you do for 
them "]. He has often complained that I would not 
have the children enough in my room, but, being of 
your opinion, where it was not necessary, I thought 
it better not. ^' " * 

December 12th. 

I enclose a few lines to Mr. Martin.* I have only 
had time to look at the preface, and am very glad to 
hear that you are satisfied. 

With what interest shall I read it! You will re- 
ceive these lines on the 14th. Last year I had the 

* The first volume of whose " Life of the Prince Consort" had just been 
published. 



TRIALS. 337 

comfort of being near you. It did me real good 
then, and I thank you again for those short and 
quiet days, where the intercourse with you was so 
soothing to my aching heart. There is no Umgaiig 
[intercourse] I know, that gives me more happiness 
than when I can be with you — above all, in quiet. 
The return to the so-called world I have barely 
made. Life is serious — a journey to another end. 
The flowers God sends to brighten our path I take 
with gratitude and enjoy ; but much that was dearest, 
most precious, which this day commeinorates , is in the 
grave ; part of my heart is there too, though their 
spirits, adored Papa's, live on with me, the holiest 
and brightest part of life, a star to lead us, were we 
but equal to following it ! The older I grow, the 
more perfect, the more touching and good, dear 
Papa's image stands before me. Such an entire life 
for duty, so joyously and unpretendingly borne out, 
remains for all times something inexpressibly fine 
and grand ! With it how tender, lovable, gay, he was ! 
I can never talk of him to others w^ho have not 
known him, without tears in my eyes — as I have 
them now. He was and is my ideal. I never knew 
a man fit to place beside him, or so made to be 
devotedly loved and admired. * * * 

December 14th. 

Before this day is over, I must write a few words 
— my thoughts are so much with you and with the 
past, the bright, happy past of my childhood, where 
beloved Papa was the centre of this rich and happy 
existence. I have spent nearly the whole day with 
the precious volume which speaks so much of you 
and of him. 

What a man in every sense of the word ; what a 
Prince he was — so entirely what the dear old Baron 



338 PRINCESS ALICE. 

[Stockmar] urged him always to be ! Life with him 
must have seemed to you so secure and well- 
guarded. How you must have loved him ! It 
makes one's heart ache again and again, in reading 
and thinking of all dear Papa was to you, that you 
should have had to part from him in the heat of the 
day, when he was so necessary. Ihm ist wohl [With 
him it is well]. A life like his was a whole long life- 
time, though only twenty-two years, and he well 
deserved his rest ! 

The hour is nearing when we last held and pressed 
his hand in life, now thirteen years ago. How well 
I recollect that last sunrise, and then the dreadful 
night with you that followed on that too awful day ! 
But it is not well to dwell on these things, when we 
have the bright, sunny past to look back to. Tenny- 
son's beautiful Dedication * expresses all one feels 
and would wish to say. I can only add, with a heavy- 
drawn sigh, " Oh, to be worthier of such a Father!" 
How far beneath him, if not always in aims, at least 
in their fulfilment, have I always remained ! 

December 17th. 
My best thanks for the letter of the 1 5th. Poor 
Colonel Grey's f death is shocking, and Bertie and 
Alix are sure to have felt it deeply. Dear Bertie's 
true and constant heart suffers on such occasions, 
for he can be constant in friendship, and all who 
serve him serve him with warm attachment. I hope 
he won't give way to the idea of Sandringham being 
unlucky, though so much that has been trying and 
sad has happened to them there ! Superstition is 
surely a thing to fight against ; above all, with the 
feeling that all is in God's hands, not in ours ! 

* To " The Idyls of the King." 

f Only child of Sir George Grey, and Equerry to the Prince of Wales. 
He died at Sandringham of inflammation of the lungs. 



TRIALS. 339 

How interesting the book is [" Life of the Prince 
Consort 'H ! I have finished it, and am befriedigt 
[satisfiedj. It was a difficult undertaking, but Mr. 
Martin seems to have done it very well. 

I am sure dear Osborne is charming as ever, but 
I can't think of that large house so empty ; no chil- 
dren any more ; it must seem so forsaken in our old 
wing. I have such a Heimweh [yearning] to see 
Osborne again after more than six years. * * * 



1875. 

Each year the Princess Alice endeavored by 
some public effort or other — either a dramatic or 
musical performance — to collect funds for her many 
charitable institutions which, as they extended their 
field of usefulness,, were more and more in need of 
pecuniary help. Artists as well as amateurs gladly 
offered their services on all such occasions. 

In the beginning of this year the Prince and 
Princess and their children went to England for two 
months, spending part of the time with the Queen, 
and part with the Prince and Princess of Wales. 
The two eldest daughters, Victoria and Elizabeth, 
accompanied their grandmother to Balmoral in May. 

The whole family returned to Darmstadt at the 
end of June. In July the Prince and Princess Louis 
were present at the " coming of age" of the Hered- 
itary Grand Duke of Baden. The rest of the sum- 
mer was spent at Kranichstein. 

In 1874 the Hessian Government had amended 
their educational laws for the schools, and had estab- 
lished, as a fundamental principle, that needle-work 



340 PHINCESS ALICE. 

in all its branches should be taught in all girls' 
schools, and that suitable teachers for this purpose 
should be engaged. To meet this necessity, a 
course of lectures and instruction in the art of nee- 
dle-work was instituted by the " Alice Society," open 
to women and girls of all classes. This has proved 
in its results of real blessing and benefit to the whole 
country. 

[The next two letters arose out of the expression 
of an opinion on the part of some of the Prince Con- 
sort's friends, that the publication of his Life under 
the sanction of the Queen, with unreserved fulness 
of details, had been premature.] 

Darmstadt, January 3d, 1875. 

* ^" "^ It is touching and fine in you to allow 
the world to have so much insight into your private 
life, and allow others to have what has been on\y your 
property and our inheritance. 

People can only be the better for reading about 
dear Papa, such as he was, and such as so feelingly 
and delicately Mr. Theodore Martin places him 
before them. To me the volume is inexpressibly 
precious, and opens a field for thought in various 
senses. 

For the frivolous higfher classes how valuable this 
book will be, if read with real attention, as a record 
of a life spent in the highest aims, with the noblest 
conception of duty as a leading star. 

"To this letter Her Majesty replied : 

Osborne, January 12, 1875. 
Dearest Alice : — * * * Now as regards the 
book. If you will reflect a few minutes, you will 



TRIALS. 341 

see how I owed it to beloved Papa to let his noble 
character be known and understood, as it now is, 
and that to wait longer, when those who knew him 
best — his own wife, and a few (very few there are) 
remaining friends — were all gone, or too old, and too 
far removed from that time, to be able to present a 
really true picture of his most ideal and remarkable 
character, would have been really wrong. 

He must be known, for his own sake, for the good 
of England and of his family, and of the world at 
large. Countless people write to say, what good it 
does and will do. And it is already thirteen years 
since he left us ! 

Then you must also remember, that endless false 
and untrue things have been written and said about 
us, public and private, and that in these days people 
will write and will know : therefore the only way to 
counteract this is to let the real, full truth be known, 
and as much be told as can be told with prudence 
and discretion, and then, no harm, but good, will be 
done. Nothing will help me more, than that my 
people should see what I have lost! Numbers of 
people we knew have had their Lives and Memoirs 
published, and some beautiful ones : Bunsen's by his 
wife; Lord Elgin's, by his (very touching and inter- 
esting); Lord Palmerston's ; etc., etc. 

" The Early Years " volume was begun for private 
circulation only, and then General Grey and many of 
Papa's friends and advisers begged me to have it 
published. This was done. The work was most 
popular and greatly liked. General Grey could not 
go on with it, and asked me to ask Sir A. Helps to 
continue it, and he said that he could not, but rec- 
ommended Mr. Theodore Martin as one of the most 
eminent writers of the day, and hoped I could pre- 



342 PRINCESS ALICE. 

vail on him to undertake tliis great national work. 
I did succeed, and he has taken seven years to pre- 
pare the whole, supplied by me with every letter 
and extract ; and a deal of time it took, but I felt it 
would be a national sacred work. You must, I 
think, see I am right now ; Papa and I too would have 
suffered otherwise. I think even the German side 
of his character will be understood. 

One of the things that pleases people most is the 
beautiful way in which he took all good Stockmar's 
often very severe observations. And they also admire 
so much good old Stockmar's honesty, fearlessness, 
and are pleased to be shown what a dear warm-heart- 
ed old man he was. Your devoted Mama, 

V. R. 

January i8th. 

% ^ ^ The service in Dr. Weber's study be- 
fore the open coffin, filled with flowers, was very 
affecting. He was truly beloved and respected. 
His sufferings must have been intense, and for many 
years borne heroically — not a word said ; not a com- 
plaint ; always ready to bear the sorrows of others 
with them, yet bearing his own unassisted ! Won- 
derful self-command and unselfishness ! He knew 
his illness was fatal ; even to the latter weeks con- 
sidered his days as but few, and put all in order, 
without letting his family and friends know what he 
himself only too well foresaw. 

It was a stormy afternoon with pouring rain when 
he was buried. Louis, his poor boy, and many 
were out. "^ * * 

We have April weather. I have a very heavy 
cold, and feel so weak and done up. It is too warm 
and unhealthy ; every place smells, our house espe- 
cially. 



TRIALS. 343 

January 27th. 
* * * My little May has such a cold, which 
lessens her usual smiles. She is a fine, strong child, 
more like what Victoria was, but marked eyebrows, 
with the fair hair and such speaking eyes. She and 
Aliky are a pretty contrast ! 

February 14th. 

You say of the drains just what I have said from 
year to year ; and this summer — if we can get away 
in the spring, when it is most unwholesome — what 
can be done is to be done, and I hope with better 
success than what has hitherto been attempted. 

My little May cannot get rid of her cough, though 
she looks pink and smiling. I shall be so glad to 
show her to you — she is so pretty and dear. 

My father-in-law has for the first time got the 
gout in his feet, and is so depressed. Uncle Louis 
suffers dreadfully from oppression at night, so that 
he can't remain in bed. He is a good deal aged, 
and stoops dreadfully. * ^- * 

March 14th. 
Louis gave me a dreadful fright last week by sud- 
denly breaking through the ice, and at a very deep 
place. He laid his arms over the thicker ice, and 
managed to keep above water till some one was near 
enough to help him out. He said the water drew 
immensely, and he feared getting under the ice. 
The gentleman, who is very tall, lay down and 
stretched his arms out to Louis, another man hold- 
ing the former : and so he got out without ill effects. 
As it was at Kranichstein, he undressed and rubbed 
himself before the stove in the Verwalter's [land- 
steward's] room ; and he came home in the Verwal- 
ter's clothes, which looked very funny. * * * 



344 PRINCESS ALICE. 

Marlborough House, May 15th. 

I did not half thank you yesterday for our pleasant 
visit. I could not trust myself to speak. I felt 
leaving you again so much. It has been a great 
happiness to me, so wohlilmend [doing me so much 
good] to have been with you, and I can never ex- 
press what I feel, as I would, nor how deep and ten- 
der my love and gratitude to you are ! The older I 
grow, the more precious the Verhiilhiiss [relation] 
to a mother becomes to me, and how doubly so to 
you ! 

Louis feels as I do ; his love to you has always 
been as to his own mother ; and my tears begin to 
run when I recall your dear face and voice, which to 
see and hear again has seemed so natural, so — as it 
ought to be ! that it is quite difficult to accustom my- 
self to the thought that only in memory can I enjoy 
them now. 

How I do love you, sweet Mama ! There is no 
sacrifice I would not make for you ! and as our 
meetings are of late years so fleeting and far be- 
tween, when they are over I feel the separation very 
much. * ^' * 

Marlborough House, June 15th, 

* * * God bless you, my precious Mother, 
watch over and guard you ; and let your blessing 
and motherly interest accompany us and our chil- 
dren ! Louis' tenderest love ; many, many kisses 
from all children, and William's respectful duty ! 

Kranichstein, June 20th. 

* * * All Victoria and Ella tell me of their 
stay at Balmoral — the many things you gave them 
and their people — touches me so much : let me thank 
you so many times again. I feel I did not half say 
enough, but you know how much I feel it ! 



TRIALS. 345 

Our journey did very well ; no one was ill, after 
that dreadful storm — a piece of luck. You are now 
again at Windsor. How much I think of you and 
of dear Beatrice ! 

July loth, 

* * * We got home from Carlsruhe at eleven 
o'clock last night. We went there on Thursday ; 
arrived at two ; were received there by Fritz and 
Louise and the Emperor ; found dear Marie Lein- 
ingen and Hermann and Leopoldine there. Fritz 
W^. arrived half an hour afterwards from Vienna, hav- 
ing met with a railway accident in the night ; but he 
was, thank God, unhurt — barely shaken. 

It was frightfully hot ! Family dinner at five ; 
then a drive about the town, which was decked with 
flao-s. At nine in the evenino- a larore soiree and 
continual circle ! and supper — sucJi a heat ! At eight 
next morning in gala, church service. Fritz (son) 
for the first time in uniform with the Black Eagle ; 
then at ten a very fine parade, in which Fritz 
marched past as second lieutenant with his regiment. 
The troops were so fine ; the Emperor led his own 
regiment past, and it was a very moving sight, with 
a great deal of cheering. At two there was a large 
banquet, at which Fritz made a beautiful speech, and 
the Emperor a very good answer. 

All Fritz's (son) former school-fellows, and the 
different schools and masters, came by in procession, 
and the day was very fatiguing. He is such a good 
boy. His former tutor, who finished his task of ed- 
ucation yesterday, said to me : "Er ist ein guter 
Mensch und die Wahrheit selber " [He is a good 
man, and truth itself]. He was very self-possessed, 
modest, and civil, talking to every one. He is full 
of promise, and has been carefully and lovingly 



346 PRINCESS ALICE. 

brought up by his parents, who are such excellent 
people. I have the greatest regard for them. 

I told the Emperor the fright we had about the 
war. He was much distressed, that any one could 
beUeve him capable of such a thing ; but our Fritz 
and Fritz of Baden agree that, with Bismarck, in 
spite of the nation not Vv'ishing it, he might bring 
about a war at any moment. Our Fritz spoke so 
justly and reasonably— quite anti-war — and I told 
him all the opinions I had gathered and heard in 
London ; and he was much grieved and worried, I 
could see ; but it must and can be prevented, if all 
are against it, I am sure. This enormous and splen- 
did army, ready at any moment, is a dangerous pos- 
session for any country. * * * 

Kranichstein, October 7th. 
* -X- * To-day my eyes will not remain dry ; 
the recollection of five years ago, which brought us 
joy and promise of more in our sweet second boy, is 
painful in the extreme. The sudden ending of that 
young life ; the gap this has left ; the recollections 
that are now but to be enjoyed in silent memory, 
will leave a heart-ache and a sore place, beside 
where there is much happiness and cause for grati- 
tude. The six children and we, with endless flowers 
and tears, decked his little grave this morning, and 
some sad lines of Byron's struck me as having much 
truth in the pain of such moments — 

But when I stood beneath the fresh green tree, 
Which living waves where thou didst cease to live, 
And saw around me the wide field revive 
With fruits and fertile promise, and the Spring 
Come forth her work of gladness to contrive. 
With all her reckless birds upon the wing, 
I turn'd from all she brought, to those she could not bring.* 

* "Childe Harold," canto iii., stanza 30. 



TRIALS. 347 

The weather is fine ; it was much like this five 
years ago, but round Metz it rained. Louis was 
turning into quarters with his troops from a sortie, 
and he called the news out to the regiments as he 
rode along, and they gave a cheer for their little 
Prince ! 

It was a dreadful time of trial and separation for 
both of us, and Frittie was such a comfort and conso- 
lation to me in all my loneliness. 

How sorry I am for poor Alix at this long separa- 
tion ! ■"''' For her sake I grieve at the impossibility 
of her accompanying him. 

We hope to get back to our house by the 19th, 
though there will be an end of nice walks for the 
next eight months — the town grows so, and is all 
railroad and coal heaps where we had our walks for- 
merly, and the town pavement in the streets is 
most unpleasant walking. * * * 

ScHLOss Kranichstein, October i6th. 
For your dear letter and for the inclosures I am so 
grateful, but distressed beyond measure at dear Fan- 
nie's [Lady Frances Baillie]. I had a long letter 
from her some weeks back, when she was more 
hopeful about dear Augusta [Stanley]. This is too 
much sorrow for them all! Fannie I loved as a sis- 
ter, and dear Augusta's devotion and self-sacrifice to 
you, and even to us in those dreadful years, was 
something rare and beautiful. Her whole soul and 
heart were in the duty, which to her was a sacred 
one. The good, excellent Dean! My sympathy is 
so great with these three kind and good people so 
sorely tried. I grieve for you too ! God help them ' 

October 26th. 
How sorry I am for dear good old Mrs. Brown 

* During the visit of the Prince of Wales to India. 



348 PRINCESS ALICE. 

and for her sons."^" Please say something sympa- 
thizing from me ; her blindness is such a trial, poor 
soul, at that age. How gloomily life must close for 
her ! 



1876. 

Although this new year brought no actual change 
to the usual routine of the daily life in the Princess' 
home, and although the Princess was able to fulfil 
her social duties, traces of serious illness now began 
to show themselves by repeated attacks of exhaus- 
tion and weakness. These attacks were partially 
relieved by a short stay in the Black Forest in June, 
and by a visit to England and Scotland, which she 
made without her husband. The Prince had been 
detained in Germany by the great manoeuvres, on 
the conclusion of which he fetched her from England, 
in the autumn. On their way back to Darmstadt 
they stopped at Brussels. They also visited Coblenz, 
to pay their respects to the Empress of Germany^ 
who had been to see their children at Darmstadt in 
October. 

January i8th, 1876. 

No words can express how deep my sympathy 
and grief is for what our dear Augusta and the Dean 
have to go through. With her warm, large heart, 
which ever lived and suffered for others, how great 
must her pain be in having to leave him ! I can 
positively think of nothing else lately, as you know 

* Her husband, the father of the Queen's personal attendant, John Brown, 
had just died. See " More Leaves from a Journal," p 319. 



' TRIALS. 349 

my love for Augusta, the General [her brother, 
General Bruce], and Fanny has always been great; 
and when I think back of them in former times, and 
in the year 1861, my heart aches and my tears flow 
— feeling what you and we shall lose in dear Augusta. 
My pity for the dear, good, kind Dean is so deep. I 
sent him a few words again to-day, in the hope he 
may still say a few words of love and gratitude to 
dear Augusta from me. 

Darmstadt, January 22d. 

* * "^ Yesterday morning Ernie came in to 
me and said, " Mama, I had a beautiful dream ; shall 
I tell you ? I dreamt that I was dead and was gone 
up to Heaven, and there I asked God to let me have 
Frittie again ; and he came to me and took my hand. 
You were in bed, and saw a great light, and were so 
frightened, and I said, * It is Ernie and Frittie.' 
You were so astonished ! The next niofht Frittie and I 
went with a great light to sisters." Is it not touching ? 
He says such beautiful things, and has such deep 
poetic thought, yet with it all so full of fun and 
romping. 

February 9th. 

* "^ * I am so sorry and shocked about ex- 
cellent Mr. Harrison.* What a loss ! He was so 
obliging and kind always in the many commissions 
for us children. Poor Krauslach,f too — so sad! It 
is too grievous ; how one well-known face — with its 
many associations — after another, is called away ; 
and on looking back, how short a space of time they 
seemed to have filled ! 

WoLFACH, June 7th. 

* * * The heat here is excessive ; the wild 

* Secretary in the office of the Privy Purse. 

f The Prince Consort's head groom, who had come over with him to 
England. 



350 PRINCESS ALICE. 

flowers covering" every field are more beautiful than 
I have ever seen them anywhere — such quantities 
of large forget-me-nots. The streams are very much 
like Scotch ones ; the valleys are partly very narrow, 
and the hills wooded to the very top — rather like 
the Thiiringer Wald, but more different greens : 
such lovely coloring. I admire the country so much. 

Darmstadt, June 23d. 

* * * How sorry I am for good, kind old Mrs. 
Brown — to be blind with old age seems so hard, so 
cruel ; but I am sure with your so loving heart you 
have brightened her latter years in many kind ways. 
It is such a pleasure to do any thing for the aged ; 
one has such a feeling of respect for those who have 
the experience of a long life, and are nearing the 
goal. 

* * * Yesterday, again, the Emperor Alex- 
ander spoke to me, really rejoicing that the political 
complications were clearing peacefully : " Dites a 
Maman encore une fois comme cela me rejouit, et de 
savoir comme c'est elle qui tient a la paix. Nous ne 
pouvons, nous ne voulons pas nous brouiller avec 
I'Angleterre. II faudrait etre fou de penser a Con- 
stantinople ou aux Indes ! " He had tears in his 
eyes, and seemed so moved, as if a dreadful weight 
was being lifted off; so happy for the sake of Marie, 
and Affie, too, that matters were mending. He 
shovv^ed me after dinner the buttons you gave him ; 
spoke also so affectionately of Bertie. * * ■3<- I 
thought of you — thirty-nine years of rule not to be 
envied, save for the service one can render one's 
country and the world in general in such an arduous 
position. 

Private individuals are, of course, far the best off 
— our privileges being more duties than advantages 



TRIALS. 351 

— and their absence would be no privation compared 
to the enormous advantao^'e of beinsf one's own mas- 
ter, and of being on equality with most people, and 
able to know men and the world as they are, and 
not merely as they please to show themselves to 
please us. •^- * * 

Darmstadt, July 5th. 

* * * We dined with Uncle Louis, the Em- 
peror, etc., and Grand Duke of Weimar, at Seeheim 
yesterday. The Emperor said he had written to 
you, but Prince Gortschakoff seemed only half-happy, 
and said to me : " Franchement puis-je vous le dire, 
je desirerais voir I'Angleterre grande, forte, decidee 
dans la politique, comme I'etait Canning et les grands 
hommes d'etat que j'ai connus en Angleterre il y a 
quarante ans. La Russie est grande et forte ; que 
I'Angleterre le soit aussi ; nous n'avons pas besoin 
de faire attention a tous les petits." He said we 
made our foreign policy and despatches for the Blue 
Book, and not an open decided policy before the 
House of Commons and the world. It may interest 
you to hear this opinion, as it shows the temper of 
his policy. 

September 5th. 

It is long since I have felt such pain as the death 
(to me really sudden and unexpected, in spite of the 
danger inherent in her case) of my good, devoted, 
kind Emily * has caused me. My tears won't cease. 
Louis, the children, the whole household, all mourn 
and grieve with me. She was singularly beloved, 
and richly deserved to be so ! Her devotion and 
affection to me really knew no bounds. I cannot 
think what it will be to miss her. I have never been 

*The Hon. Emily Caroline Hardinge, the Princess' Lady-in-Waiting, 
died in London on the 4th of September, 1876. 



352 PRINCESS ALICE. 

served as she served me, and probably never shall 
be so again. It is a wrench that only those can esti- 
mate who knew her well — like poor Mary Hardinge. 
She came first in Emily's heart, and the loss for her 
is quite, quite irreparable ! Had I but seen dear 
Emily again ! This sudden, cruel sort of death 
shocks me so. 

How I should have nursed and comforted her had 
I been near her! She always wished this, and told 
me she had such a fear of death. There never 
breathed a more unselfish, generous, good character. 

September 6th. 

* * * I fear you will find me so dull, tired, 
and useless. I can do next to nothing of late, and 
must rest so much. Poor Emily ! My thoughts 
never leave her. I cannot yet get accustomed to 
the thought of her loss. 

P, S. — ^Just received your dear note. The accounts 
of my dear Emily's sad end have just reached me, and 
I am terribly upset. You can hardly estimate the 
gap, the blank she will leave — my only lady, and in 
many ways homme d'affaires We had been so much 
together this last waiting ; every thing reminds me 
of her, and of the touching love she bore me. Sure- 
ly some years more she would have lived. 

Darling Mama, I don't think you quite know how 
far from well I am, and how absurdly wanting in 
strength. I only mention it, that you should know 
that until the good air has set me up I am good for 
next to nothing ; and I fear I sha'n't be able to come 
to dinner the first evenings. I hope you won't mind. 
I have never in my life been like this before. I live 
on my sofa, and in the air, and see no one, and yet 
go on losing strength ! Of course this unexpected 
shock has done me harm too, and has entailed more 
sad things. * * ■^- 



TRIALS. ■ 353 

Douglas' Hotel, 
Edinburgh, Sunday, September nth. 

* * * I hear Ernie is still so dull and melan- 
choly at missing me ; he always feels it most, with 
that tender loving heart of his. God preserve and 
guard this to me so inexpressibly precious child ! I 
fancy that seldom a mother and child so understood 
each other, and loved each other, as we two do. It 
requires no words ; he reads in my eyes, as I do in 
his, what is in his little heart. 

It is so wonderfully still here, not a soul in the 
streets. The people of the house have sent up sev- 
eral times to enquire when and to what church I was 
going; so I shall go, as it seems to shock them, 
one's staying away. I shall see the Monument this 
afternoon, and go and see Holyrood again. The 
whole journey here brought back with the well- remem- 
bered scenery the recollection of my childhood, all 
the happy journeys with dear Papa and you. How 
the treasured remembrance, with the deep love, lives 
on, when all else belongs to the past ! 

I seem, in returning here, so near you and him in for- 
mer happy years, when my home was in this beloved 
country. No home in the world can quite become 
what the home of one's parents and childhood was, 
There is a sacredness about it, a feeling of gratitude 
and love for the great mercies one had there. You, 
who never left country, Geschwister [kindred], or 
home, can scarcely enter into this feeling. 

In the hopes of meeting you soon, kissing your 
dear hands, with thanks for all goodness, and many 
excuses for having caused so mush trouble. * '"* ^ 

Buckingham Palace, October 19th. 
I was so sad at parting with you yesterday. I 
could not half thank you for all your love and kind- 



354 FHINCESS ALICE. 

ness during" those weeks. But you know how deep- 
ly I feel it ; how truly grateful I am to you ; how 
happy and contented I am to be allowed to be near 
you as in old days. Darling Mama, once more, 
thousand thanks for all and for every thing! 

The journey went quite well, and I am not par- 
ticularly tired. 

Buckingham Palace, November igth. 

Thousand thanks for your dear letter received 
this morning! I feel leaving dear England, as 
always, though the pleasure of being near the dear 
children again is very great. 

Let me thank you once more from my heart, 
darling Mama, for all your great kindness, and for 
havino- enabled me to do what was thouQ^ht neces- 
sary and best. I return so much stronger and 
better than I came, in every way — refreshed by the 
pleasant stay in dear Balmoral with you, and then 
much better for the time here. I feel morally re- 
freshed, too, with the entire change, the many interests 
to be met with here, which is always so beneficial, 
and will help me in every way when I get back to 
Darmstadt. All this I have to thank you for, and 
do so most warmly. 

Louis, who, as you know, is full of love and affec- 
tion for you, is very grateful for your kind words, 
and. has likewise derived profit and enjoyment from 
his stay in England. 

^- * ^' My color and strength have so much 
returned, that I do not doubt being well again this 
winter. 

I went with Dean Stanley to see Mr. Carlyle, who 
was most interesting, and talked for nearly an hour. 
Had I had time, I would have written down the con- 
versation. The Dean said he would try and do so. 



TRIALS. 355 

With Louise I visited Mr. Motley also, who in 
his way is equally interesting, and has a great 
charm. * * * 

Darmstadt, November 26th. 

Many thanks for your last letter from Balmoral, 
received yesterday morning ! I know you feel leav- 
ing the dear place, but without going away there is 
no Wiedersehen [meeting again]. The happiness of 
our meeting with the dear children was very great 
on all sides — they eat me up ! 

They had made wreaths over the doors, and had 
no end of things to tell me. We arrived at three, 
and there was not a moment's rest till they were all 
in bed, and I had heard the different prayers and 
hymns of the six, with all the little different confi- 
dences they had to make. My heart was full of joy 
and gratitude at being with them once more, and I 
prayed God to make me fit to be their real friend 
and stay as long as they require me, and to have the 
insight into their different characters to guide them 
aright, and to understand their different wants and 
feelings. This is so difficult always. 

Victoria is immensely grown, and her figure is 
forming. She is changing so much — beginning to 
leave the child and grow into the girl. I hear she 
has been good and desirous of doing what is right ; 
and she has more to contend with than Ella, there- 
fore double merit in any thing she overcomes, and 
any self-sacrifice she makes. 

Ernie is very well, and his birthday was a great 
delight. Sweet little May is enchanting, — " my weet 
heart," as she calls me. Aliky is very handsome 
and dear. 

Darmstadt, December 12th, 

I see this letter will just arrive on the 14th — day 



356 PRINCESS ALICE. 

never to be forgotten ! How deeply it is graven in 
my heart — with letters of blood ; for the pain of 
losing hi77i, and of witnessing your grief, was as 
sharp as any thing any child can go through for its 
beloved parents. Yet God's mercy is to be found 
through all, and one learns to say " Thy will be done," 
hard though it is. * * * 



1877. 

The health of Prince Charles of Hesse (father of 
Prince Louis) had for some time past given cause for 
great anxiety. He had always suffered from violent 
headaches and a delicate throat. On the evening of 
the nth of March he was seized with erysipelas, and 
died peacefully on the 20th. The Princess shared 
the grief of her mother-in-law and family most truly ; 
for Prince Charles, though outwardly shy and retiring, 
was a man of great cultivation and refinement, and 
had made himself beloved by all who knew him. 
He was buried in the Mausoleum at the Rosenhohe 
on the 24th of March. The Grand Duke, who was 
deeply affected by his brother's death, and all the 
family were present. 

A month had scarcely passed since Prince Charles' 
death, when the Grand Duke himself was attacked 
by serious illness at Seeheim, one of his summer 
residences, near Darmstadt, and died on the 1 3th of 
June at the age of seventy-one. 

Prince Louis was the next heir, and ascended the 
throne as Grand Duke Louis IV. 



TRIALS. 357 

The total change of circumstances, the heavy 
duties and responsibilities of her new position, came 
most unexpectedly upon the Princess, and she 
scarcely felt herself equal to them. With her well- 
known conscientiousness and high feeling of duty it 
was not surprising that they weighed heavily upon 
her, more especially as her health had of late become 
very delicate. Still, the hope of being able to carry 
out many a plan for the welfare of her adopted coun- 
try encouraged her greatly. 

After the official receptions held by the Grand 
Duke and Grand Duchess were over, they left 
Darmstadt for the quiet little watering-place of 
Houlgate, in Normandy. The Grand Duke was 
only able to accompany the Grand Duchess as far as 
Metz, but he followed her later on with the children. 
The rest and quiet were good for them all ; and, ap- 
parently much improved in health, the Grand Duch- 
ess returned for the first time as " mother of the 
country " \Landesmuttei^ to Darmstadt. Her recep- 
tion was of the warmest and most enthusiastic nature, 
which she took as a good omen for the future. 

The Emperor of Germany and the Crown Prince 
visited Darmstadt at the end of September, for the 
purpose of assisting at the cavalry manoeuvres, to the 
great satisfaction of the country. 

The change in Princess Alice's position in no wise 
affected her relations to her many charitable institu- 
tions, though she had, of course, many new respon- 
sibilities thrown upon her. Her constant endeavor 



358 PRINCESS ALICE. 

was to be just and free from prejudice, to recognize 
what was good, no matter where, and to promote 
and further it to the best of her power. 

The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess saw much 
of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Germany 
during the latter part of the year, as they were living 
at Wiesbaden. 

Fraulein Louise Biichner, who had been for ten 
years so intimately connected with the Grand 
Duchess, not only as working with her for the good 
of others, but also by ties of the truest friendship, 
died on the 28th of November. Her death caused 
a gap which was sorely felt. A few days before her 
death, when she was already confined to her bed, 
she received a letter from the Grand Duchess herself, 
on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the 
opening of the " Alice Bazaar," thanking her for all 
she had done. 

The Grand Duchess had caused many of the 
pamphlets written by Miss Octavia Hill to be trans- 
lated, in the hopes of encouraging in Darmstadt the 
authorities, and those at the head of private under- 
takings, to further exertions for improving the 
condition of the poor. 

Whilst in England she had become acquainted 
with Miss Octavia Hill, " the warm-hearted friend of 
the poor," and had visited with her many of the 
poorer parts of London. She felt the sincerest 
admiration and respect for Miss Hill, and entirely 
shared her view, " that we must become the friends 



TRIALS. 359 

of the poor to be their benefactors." The Grand 
Duchess did not wish to copy exactly in Germany 
what Miss Hill had done in London : but she hoped 
that the knowledge of what had been done in other 
places would be an incentive to work in the same 
direction. 

At the beginning of this year the Grand Duchess 
had visited in strictest incognito the worst houses 
(in sanitary respects) in Mayence, and determined 
to make a plan for the erection of new dwellings for 
the workino- classes there. 

Darmstadt, January ist. 

■^ * * How beautifully Max Miiller's letter '^Ms 
written and expressed, and how touchingly and truly 
he puts the point of view on which we all should 
learn to stand. To become again pure as children, 
with a child's faith and trust — there where our human 
intellect will ever stand still ! 

I have been reading some of Robertson's sermons 
again, and I think his view of Christianity one of the 
truest, warmest, and most beautiful I know. * -^ * 

Darmstadt, March 23d. 

Thank you so much for your dear and sympathiz- 
ing letter. These have been most painful — most 
distressing days — so harrowing. 

The recollections of 1 861, of dear Frittie's death, 
when my dear father-in-law was so tender and kind, 
were painfully vivid. My mother-in-law's resigna- 
tion and touching goodness, doing all that she could 
during the illness and since for all arrangements, is 
very beautiful ! 

* Written after the death of his daughter. 



360 PRINCESS ALICE. 

The poor sons gave way to bursts of tears during 
those agonizing hours ; yet they held their father 
alternately with me, and were quiet and helpful for 
their mother and for him, just as their simple, quiet 
natures teach them. I begged Bauerlein to write to 
you meanwhile. I am feeling so exhausted, and 
there is so much to do, and we are always going 
from one house to the other. 

It was heart-rending from Monday morn till Tues- 
day eve to see the painful alteration in the dear well- 
known features augmenting from hour to hour, 
though I believe he did not suffer latterly. He was 
not conscious, unless spoken to, or called very 
directly. 

My mother-in-law never left his bedside day or 
night, and we were only a few hours absent on Mon- 
day night. Before we went home she called our 
names distinctly to him as we kissed him, and he 
seemed to notice it ; then she knelt down, and dis- 
tinctly, but choked with tears, prayed the Lord's 
Prayer for him, calling him gently. 

The next day at six we were there again, and till 
half past six in the evening never left the bedside. 
She repeated occasionally, as long as she thought he 
might hear, a short verse — so touching ! and once 
said : " Bist Du traurig ? es ist ja nicht auf lange, 
dann sind wir wieder zusammen ! " [" Art thou sad ? 
It is not for lonof, and then we shall be toQ^ether 
again "] kissing and stroking his hands. It was very 
distressing. 

When all was over we four were close to her, and 
she threw herself on him, and then clasped her sons 
to her heart with words of such grief as you so well 
understand ! 

Early the next morning we went with her to his 



TRIALS. 361 

room. He lay on his bed, very peaceful, in his uni- 
form. Louis had clasped the hands together when 
he died, and I arranged flowers on the bed and in 
the room round him. 

There is a terrible deal to do and to arrano-e, and 
many people come, and we are much with my poor 
mother-in-law. Yesterday we went for the last time 
to see the remains of what had been so precious. 
She read a " Lied " [a hymn], and then kissed him 
so long, and took with us the last look. Yesterday 
evening the coffin was closed in presence of the sons. 

We are going to the Rosenhohe [the Mausoleum] 
now, before going to Louis' mother, to put things 
straight there, and see if one can get by dear Frittie 
— it is so small. 

The three brothers are dreadfully upset, but able 
to arrange and see after what is necessary. Aunt 
Marie [the Empress of Russia] wanted to come, and 
is in terrible distress ; she loved that brother beyond 
any thing. In her last letter to my mother-in-law 
she says : " Ich habe solche Sehnsucht nach dem 
alten Bruder " ["I have such a yearning after my 
old brother "]. 

His was a singularly delicate-minded, pure, true, 
unselfish nature, so full of consideration for others, 
so kind. My tears flow incessantly, for I loved him 
very dearly. 

My dear mother-in-law has such a broken, ruined 
existence now — all turned round him ! She knows 
where to find strength and comfort — it will not fail 
her. * ^' ^' 

Darmstadt, June 7th. 

* * * We are going through a dreadful ordeal. 
The whole of Monday and Monday night, with a 
heat beyond words, dreading the worst. Now there 



362 PRINCESS ALICE. 

has been a slight rally.* Whether it will continue 
to-morrow is doubtful. He is always conscious, 
makes his little jokes, but the pulse is very low 
and intermits. I was there early this morning with 
Louis. * * * 

The questions, long discussions between Louis 
and some people, as to complication and difficulty of 
every kind that will at once fall upon us, are really 
dreadful, and I so unfit just now! The confusion 
will be dreadful. "^^ '^' * 

I am so dreading every thing, and above all the 
responsibility of being the first in every thing, and 
people are not bienveillant. 

I shall send you news whenever I can, but I am 
so worn out, I shall not be able to do so much 
myself. 

I know your thoughts and wishes are with us 
at so hard a time. God grant we may do all 
aright ! * * * 

Telegrams. 

June 7th. 
Going to Seeheim, as great weakness has come 
on. Am much tired by all that lies before us, and 
not feeling well. 

Seeheim, 13th. 
Dear Uncle Louis is no more. We arrived too late. 

Darmstadt, 6.20 o'clock, 13th. 
Such press of business and decisions. Feel very 
tired. 

15th. 
We are both so over-tired ; the press of business 
and decisions is so wearing, with the new responsi- 
bility. 

* The Grand Duke of Hesse was alarmingly ill. 



TRIALS. 363 

1 8th. 

Last ceremony over ! All went off well, and was 
very moving. Alice. 

Darmstadt, June 19th. 

Only two words of thanks from both of us for your 
kind wishes and letters ! Christian and Colonel 
Gardiner bring you news of every thing that has 
been and is still going on. But we are over- 
whelmed, over-tired, and the heat is getting very 
bad again. 

'X- % % -^jll l-gU yQ^ what a very difficult posi- 
tion we are in. It is too dreadful to think that I am 
forced to leave Louis in a few weeks under present 
circumstances, but, if he wishes to keep me at all, I 
must leave every thing and this heat for a time. 
These next weeks here will be very anxious and 
difficult. God grant we may do the right things ! 

June 28th. 
■^ ^ ^^ lo have to go away just now, when the 
refreshment of family life is so doubly pleasant to 
Louis after his work, I am too sorry for. If I were 
only better ; if I only thought that I shall have the 
chance of rest, and what is necessary to regain my 
health ! Now it will be more difficult than ever, and 
I see Louis has the fear, which I also have, that I 
shall not hold out very long. 

July 15th. 

^* * * I leave on Tuesday, but stop on the 
way. The children go direct and j'oin me in Paris, 
when we go on together on Friday or Saturday to 
Houlgate. The trains don't fit, and one has some 
way to drive from Trouville. 

Houlgate, July 25th. 

* -X- * This place is quite charming — real 



364 PRINCESS ALICE. 

country, so green, so picturesque — a beautiful coast; 
the nicest sea-place I have been at yet. Our house 
is " wee " for so many, and the first days it was very 
noisy ; and it was so dirty. The maids and nurses 
had to scrub and sweep ; the one French housemaid 
was not up to it. All is better now, and quite com- 
fortable enough. The air is doing me good, and the 
complete change. I have bathed twice, and the sea 
revives me. 

I follow as eagerly as any in England the advance 
of the Russians, and with cordial dislike. They can 
never be redressers of wrongs or promoters of civiH- 
zation and Christianity. What I" fear is, even if they 
don't take Constantinople, and make no large de- 
mands as the price of their victories now, the decla- 
ration of the independence of Bulgaria will make 
that country to them in future what Rou mania has 
been for Russia now, and therefore in twenty years 
hence they will get all they want, unless the other 
Powers at this late hour can bring about a change. 
It is bad for England, for Austria, for Germany, if 
this Russian Slav element should preponderate in 
Europe ; and the other countries must sooner or 
later act against this in self-preservation. 

What do the friends of the " Atrocity Meetings " 
say now ? How difficult it has been made for the 
Government through them, and how blind they have 
been ! All this must be a constant worry and 
anxiety for you ! 

The children are so happy here — the sea does 
them such good. I am very glad I brought them. 

HOULGATE, July 28th. 

* * * Though we have rain off and on, still 
the weather is very pleasant, and we are all of us 
charmed with the place, and the beautiful, pictu- 



TRIALS. 365 

resque, fertile country. The life is so pleasant — real 
country — which I have never yet found at any 
bathing-place abroad yet. I have bathed every 
other day — swim, and it does me good. I feel it al- 
ready, Ella is getting her color back, and the little 
ones look much better. 

I send you the last photos done of the children ; 
Ella's is not favorable, nor Irene's, but all in all they 
are a pretty set. May has not such fat cheeks in 
reality ; still it is very dear. The two little girlies 
are so sweet, so dear, merry, and nice. I don't 
know which is dearest, they are both so captivating. 

I have been to an old tumble-down church at 
Dives — -close by here — where William the Con- 
queror is said to have been before starting for 
Enofland. His name and those of all his followers 
are inscribed there — names of so many families now 
existing in England. It was very interesting. 

August 22d. 

* * * How difficult it is to know one's 
children well ; to develop and train the characters 
according to their different peculiarities and require- 
ments ! * * * 

Darmstadt, September Qtb. 

* * * I must tell you now, how very heartily 
and enthusiastically the whole population, high and 
low, received us yesterday. It was entirely sponta- 
neous, and, as such, of course, so very pleasing. 
* ^' * I was really touched, for it rained, and yet 
all were so joyous — flags out, bells ringing, people 
bombarding us with beautiful nosegays ; all the 
schools out, even the higher ones, the girls all 
dressed in white. The Kriegerverein, Louis' old 
soldiers, singing, etc. In the evening all the Gesang- 



366 PRINCESS ALICE. 

vereine joined together and sang under our win- 
dows. 

We are very glad to be at home again, and, 
please God, with earnest will and thought for others, 
we together shall in our different ways be able to 
live for the good of the people entrusted to our 
care ! May God's blessing rest on our joint endeav- 
ors to do the best, and may we meet with kindness 
and forbearance where we fall short of our duties. 

Darmstadt, October 30th. 

* * * I had to receive sixty-five ladies — 
amongst them my nurses — and some doctors from 
here and other towns, all belonging to my Nursing 
Society, which has now existed ten years. Then I 
was at the opening of my Industrial Girls' School, 
where girls from all parts of the country come, and 
which is a great success. I started it two years ago. 
On Sunday I took the children to hear the Sunday- 
school, which interested them very much. 

I have been doing too much lately, though, and 
my nerves are beginning to feel the strain, for sleep 
and appetite are no longer good. Too much is de- 
manded of one ; and I have to do with so many 
things. It is more than my strength can stand in 
the long run. * ^' ^'' 

December 13th. 
For to-morrow, as ever, my tenderest sympathy ! 
Time shows but more and more what we all lost in 
beloved Papa ; and the older I grow, the more peo- 
ple I know, the more the remembrance of him shines 
bright as a star of purer lustre than any I have ever 
known. May but a small share of his light fall on 
some of us, who have remained so far beneath him, 
so little worthy of such a father! We can but admire, 



TRIALS. 367 

reverence, long to imitate, and yet not approach near 
to what he was. 

We are going with the children to-day to Wiesba- 
den until Saturday ; and I mean to tell Vicky that 
she had better give up the hope of my being able to 
come for the wedding/' I could not do it. I only 
trust the why will be understood. Do write to the 
dear Empress about it when next you write. How 
sorry I am to be absent at a moment when, as sister 
and a German Sovereign's wife, I should be there ; 
but the doctor would not hear of it, so I gave it 
up. """ '■'"■ * 

Darmstadt, December 21st. 

* * * You say all that happened after the 
dreadful 14th is effaced from your memory. How 
well I can imagine that ! I remember saying my 
utmost to Sir Charles Phipps in remonstrance to 
your being wished to leave Windsor — it was so cruel, 
so very wrong. Uncle Leopold insisted ; it all came 
from him, and he was alarmed lest you should fall 
ill. 

How you suffered was dreadful to witness ; never 
shall I forget what I went through for you then ; it 
tore my heart in pieces ; and my own grief was so 
great too. Louis thought I would not hold to my 
engagement then any more — for my heart was too 
filled with beloved, adored Papa, and with your 
anofuish, to have room or wish for other thoughts. 

God is very merciful in letting time temper the 
sharpness of one's grief, and letting sorrow find its 
natural place in our hearts, without withdrawing us 
from life! 

* Of the Princess Charlotte of Prussia with the Hereditary Prince of 
Saxe-Meiningen. 



THE EiND. 

1878. 

' Life is serious — a journey to another end." {Decet?tber 12, 1874,) 

'HE state of the Grand Duchess' health pre- 
vented her from accompanying the Grand 
Duke to Berhn on the occasion of the marriasfes of 
Princess Charlotte of Prussia (eldest daughter of the 
Crown Prince and Princess of Germany) to the 
Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Meiningen, and of 
Princess Elizabeth of Prussia (sister to the Duchess 
of Connaught) to the Hereditary Grand Duke of 
Oldenburg. Although she was unable to go out 
much into society, or to take an active part in social 
gayeties, her Interest and sympathy were unabated, 
particularly In all matters concerning art and science. 
She received many guests, and Prince William of 
Prussia (then studying at Bonn) often visited her. 

The celebrated portrait painter Helnrich von 
Angeli came to Darmstadt In the spring to paint a 
family picture of the Grand Duke and Grand 
Duchess and their children by command of the 
Queen of England. Princess Alice greatly enjoyed 
his acquaintance, and was charmed as well by his 
musical talent as by his wonderful genius in painting. 

368 



THE END. 369 

Angeli's picture of Princess Alice was the last ever 
painted of her. 

The repeated attempts on the life of the old 
Emperor of Germany affected the Grand Duchess 
very nearly, as from her childhood she had ever 
been greatly attached to him. 

The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess with their 
children spent the summer months of this year at 
Eastbourne. Sea-bathinp; and sea-air had asfain 
been recommended as necessary. 

The Grand Duke had to return to Darmstadt soon 
after their arrival at Eastbourne, but toward the end 
of the stay there he rejoined them. 

The whole family visted the Queen at Osborne. 

Although the Grand Duchess had, during all her 
former visits to England, shown her lively personal 
interest in all charitable institutions in London, 
visiting many herself, she seems on the occasion of 
this, her last, visit to her beloved native land, to 
have taken a more than ordinary interest in these 
matters, and to have also gone minutely into the 
subject of the exertions which were being made to 
relieve the pressing wants of the poor. 

The Grand Duchess had scarcely arrived at East- 
bourne (an eye-witness tells us), when she at once 
made enquiries as to the condition of the poorer 
parts of that town, and determined to visit them 
herself. She loved to wander about that part of 
Eastbourne which is inhabited by the fishing popu- 
lation. She often entered their cottages, visiting the 



370 PRINCESS ALICE. 

sick, and showing her sympathy to all. The visits 
to the Sunday-school were a great pleasure to her. 
The Princess often remarked, " How much good such 
instruction must do !" 

She attended divine service at a church some 
little way off, not because the service was particu- 
larly attractive, but because the church and its 
congregation needed support and help. 

Amongst those good works which from year to 
year had specially occupied her were the Refuges 
and Penitentiaries for those poor women and girls 
who most need our help. Much had been done in 
this way in England, and the Albion Home at 
Brighton, founded and managed solely by Mrs. 
Murray Vicars, had proved of the greatest service 
and blessinof. The Grand Duchess invited Mrs. 
Vicars to come and see her at Eastbourne, and tell 
herself about her work, and showed her, when she 
came, the greatest sympathy and kindness, entering 
with the warmest interest into all details of the 
workino- of the Home. 

Before leaving Eastbourne the Grand Duchess 
went incognita to Brighton, and paid a private visit 
to the Albion Home. " I only come as one woman 
to visit another " were the Princess Alice's own 
words, when Mrs. Vicars besfored her to be allowed 
to tell the poor Penitents who their visitor was. 

The Grand Duchess was greatly impressed, after 
her visit to the Home, by Mrs. Vicars' wonderful 
power and practical knowledge, and by her gentle, 



THE END. 371 

loving way toward those poor girls ; and this in a 
great measure induced her, with the Grand Duke's 
consent, to become Patroness of the Albion Home. 
At first, when asked by Mrs. Vicars to become the 
Patroness, she had refused to do so ; but, having 
reconsidered the subject, she wrote to her the 
followino^ letter from Darmstadt : 

New Palace, Darmstadt. 
Dear Mrs. Vicars : — I have returned from visiting 
the Home so convinced of your excellent management 
of it in every respect, that, if you still feel my be- 
coming Patroness of the Home (and of the Ladies' 
Association connected with it) can further the good 
and noble work, I am most willing to comply with 
your request. The spirit of true, loving, Christian 
sympathy in which the work was begun by you, and 
with which it is carried out ; the cheerfulness you 
impart, the motherly solicitude you offer to those 
struofofline to return to a better life, cannot fail to 
restore in a great measure that feeling of self-respect 
so necessary to those voluntarily seeking once more 
a virtuous life, and by so doing regaining the respect 
of their fellow-creatures. " Inasmuch as ye have 
done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, 
ye have done it unto Me." In this spirit may the 
Home, as well as the Association connected with it, 
continue its good work. My entire sympathy and 
good wishes will ever be with it. 

Ever yours truly, 

Alice. 

After the Grand Duchess' return to Darmstadt, 
she devoted herself with redoubled energy to all her 
charitable institutions ; but, alas ! she felt more and 



372 PRINCESS ALICE. 

more that her bodily strength was no longer equal 
to her exertions. 

In the. autumn she had the happiness of seeing 
several of her family at Darmstadt, the last of them 
being her brother, Prince Leopold. 

Darmstadt, January 26th. 

Though I have no letter, and expect none at such 
a moment, still I must send you a few lines to tell 
you how constantly I think of you, and of my own 
beloved and adored country. The anxiety you 
must be going through, and the feelings you must 
experience, I share with my whole heart. '''" ^^ ^' 

God grant it may be possible to do the right 
thing, for it is late, and the complication is dreadful ! 

I have barely any thoughts for any thing else ; and 
the Opposition seems to me to have been more 
wrong in its country's interest, and to have done her 
a greater harm than can ever be redressed. It is a 
serious, awful moment for Sovereign, country, and 
Government ; and in your position none have to go 
through what you have — and after all so alone ! 

I hope your health bears up under the anxiety. 

April 9th. 

* * * Angeli has arrived, and will begin at 
once. We thought Ernie and Ella — Victoria is too 
big, though she is the eldest and ought to be in the 
picture ; she would be too preponderant. Angeli is 
quite lost in admiration of Aliky and May, who are, 
I must say myself, such a lovely little pair as one 
does not often see. He will begin our heads to- 
morrow. * « * 

Darmstadt, November 6th. 

* * * I am but very middling, and leading a 



THE END. 373 

very quiet life, which is an absolute necessity. It is 
so depressing to be like this. But our home life is 
always pleasant — never dull, however quiet. Only 
a feeling of weariness and incapacity is in itself a 
trial. 

On the 8th of November Princess Victoria was 
suddenly attacked with diphtheria. How and where 
she caught the illness remains unexplained. The 
Grand Duchess, always so courageous in illness, and 
fearing none, had, however, always had a great 
horror of diphtheria. Princess Victoria was at once 
isolated from her family and the others in the house ; 
but, alas ! to no purpose. Princess Alice superin- 
tended the nursing, aided by the nurses and the Lady 
Superintendent of her hospital. The terrible anxiety 
of the poor mother during that illness is best 
described by her own telegrams and letters to the 
Queen. 

Telegravis. 

November 8th. 
Victoria has diphtheria since this morning. The 
fever is hisfh. I am so anxious. 

November loth. 
Victoria is out of dano-er. 

November 12th. 
This night my precious Aliky has been taken ill. 

Darmstadt, November 12th. 

This is dreadful ! my sweet, precious Aliky so ill ! 

At three this morning Orchie called me, saying she 

thought the child was feverish ; complaining of her 

throat. I went over to her, looked into her throat, 



374 PRINCESS ALICE. 

and there were not only spots, but a thick covering 
on each side of her throat of that horrid white mem- 
brane. I got the steam inhaler, with chlorate of 
potash for her at once, but she was very unhappy, 
poor little thing. We sent for the doctor, who lives 
close by, and who saw at once that it was a severe 
case. We have put her upstairs near Victoria, who 
is quite convalescent, and have fumigated the nursery 
to try and spare May and the others. It is a terrible 
anxiety ; it is such an acute, and often fatal, illness. 
-X- * % Victoria has been graciously preserved ; 
may God preserve these [the younger ones] also in 
His mercy ! My heart is sore ; and I am so anxious. 

Telegram. November 13th. 

Aliky tolerable. Darling May very ill ; fever so 

high. Irene has got it too. I am miserable ; such 
fear for the sweet little one ! 

On the 14th of November Prince Ernest and the 
Grand Duke were attacked with diphtheria, so that, 
up to that time, Princess Elizabeth only had escaped 
the infection. She was sent to her Grandmother's, 
Princess Charles of Hesse's palace. 

Telegram. November 15 th. 

My precious May no better ; suffers so much. I 
am in such horrible fear. Irene and Ernie fever less. 
Ernie's throat very swelled. Louis no worse ; 
almost no spots. Aliky recovering. 

Evening. 
Darling May's state unchanged ; heart-rending. 
Louis' fever and illness on the increase. The 
others, as one could expect ; all severe cases. May's' 
most alarming. 



THE END. 375 

The sympathy with the Grand Duchess in her 
great anxiety was universal. In many of the church- 
es special services were held, praying for the recov- 
ery of that dearly beloved family. The well-known 
suffering^ state of the Grand Duchess' own health, 
so sorely tried at this moment, caused the gravest 
fears to be entertained on her own. account. 

On the morning of the i6th of November sweet 
little Princess " May" — the Princess' sunshine, as she 
ever called her — was taken from her doting parents. 
The Grand Duchess telegraphed as follows to her 

mother : 

November i6th. 
* * * Our sweet Httle one is taken. Broke it 
to my poor Louis this morning ; he is better ; Ernie 
very, very ill. In great anguish. 

Telegrams. 

November i6th ; evening. 
The pain is beyond words, but " God's will be 
done ! " Our precious Ernie is still a source of such 
terrible fear. The others, though not safe, better. 

November 17th, 
Ernie decidedly better ; full of gratitude. 

November i8th. 
My patients getting better ; hope soon to have 
them better. Last painful parting at three o'clock. 

The coffin had to be closed very soon. It was 
entirely covered with flowers. The Grand Duchess 
quietly entered the room where it had been placed. 
She knelt down near it, pressing a corner of the 



3/6 PRINCESS ALICE. 

pall to her lips ; then she rose, and the funeral ser- 
vice began. 

When it was over, she cast one long, loving 
look at the coffin which hid her darlinof from her. 
She then left the room and slowly walked up-stairs. 
At the top of the stairs she knelt down, and taking hold 
of the golden balustrade, looked into the mirror op- 
posite to her to watch the little coffin being taken 
out of the house. She was marvellously calm ; only 
long-drawn sighs escaped her. 

When all had left the palace, she went to the 
Grand Duke, who was to be kept in ignorance of all 
that was going on. The Grand Duchess had herself 
arranged every detail of the funeral. 

Telegram. November 19th. 

The continued suspense almost beyond endurance. 
Ernie thought he was going to die in the night, and 
was in a dreadful state for some hours. Louis very 
nervous, too ; but they are not worse. The six 
cases have been one worse than the other. 

Later, November 19th. 
Ernie had a relapse, and our fears are increased. 
I am in an agony between hope and fear. 

The Grand Duchess desired her warmest thanks 
to be expressed to the country for their heart-felt 
sympathy. 

On the 2 5th of November the Grand Duke was 
able for the first time to leave his bed for a few 
hours, and on the 6th of December he and Prince 
Ernest drove out for the first time, in a shut car- 
riage. 



THE END. 377 

It was on this day that the Grand Duchess wrote 
for the last time to the Queen. 

November 19th. 

Beloved Mama : — Tender thanks for your dear, 
dear letter, soothing and comforting ! 

Our sweet May waits for us up there, ^and is not 
going through our agony, thank God ! Her bright, 
happy, sunshiny existence has been a bright spot in 
our lives — but oh! how short! I don't touch on 
the anguish that fills me, for God in His mercy helps 
me, and it must be borne ; but to-day, again, the 
fear and anxiety for Ernie is still greater. This is 
quite agonizing to me ; how I pray that he may be 
spared to me ! 

His voice is so thick ; new membranes have 
appeared. He cries at times so bitterly, but he 
is gayer just now. 

To a mother's heart, who would spare her children 
every pain, to have to witness what I have, and am 
still doing, knowing all these precious lives hanging 
on a thread, is an agony barely to be conceived, 
save by those who have gone through it. 

* * '^' Your letter says so truly all I feel. I 
can but say, in all one's agony there is a mercy and 
a peace of God, which even now He has let me 
feel. * '^- * 

P.S. — I mean to try and drive a little this after- 
noon. I shall go out with Orchie. Of my six chil- 
dren, since a week none more about me, and not 
my husband. It is like a very awful dream to me. 

November 2 2d. 
Beloved Mama : — Many thanks for your dear let- 
ter, and for all the expressions of sympathy shown 
by so many ! I am very grateful for it. 



378 PRINCESS ALICE. 

Dear Ernie having been preserved through the 
greatest danger is a source of such gratitude ! 
These have been terrible days ! He sent a book to 
May this morning. It made me almost sick to smile 
at the dear boy. But he must be spared yet awhile 
what to him will be such a sorrow. 

For myself, darling Mama, God has given me 
comfort and help in all this trouble, and I am sure 
His Spirit will remain near us in the trials to come ! 
Great sympathy, such as all show, is a balm ; but I 
am very tired, and the pain is often very great ; but 
pain can be turned into a blessing, and I pray this 
may be so. -J^- ■«• * 

When alone, I rest ; and writing even is a physical 
exertion. Those around me have spared me all they 
could, but one must bear the greaterweight one's self. 

May God spare you all future sorrow, and give 
you the peace which He alone can give ! 

P.S. — I finish these lines at my dear Louis' bed. 
He thanks you so much for your dear, loving sympa- 
thy. Thank God, he is doing well. But the pain they 
have all gone through in their poor throats has been 
awful. The doctors and nurses — eight! for they 
have changed day and night, and had such constant 
attendance — have been all I could wish. 



Your loving child, 



Alice. 



Darmstadt, December ist. 
* * * Every one shows great sympathy, I 
hear, everywhere. * * * ^|1 classes have 
shown a great attachment to us personally, and to 
the House, and amongst the common people — it 
goes home to them that our position does not sepa- 
rate us so very far from them, and that in death, 



THE END. -i^yg 

danger, and sorrow the palace and the hut are 
visited alike. 

So many deep and solemn lessons one learns in 
these times, and I believe all works together for 
pfood for those who believe in God. * * '^' 

December 2d. 
So many pangs and pains come, and must yet for 
years to come. Still gratitude for those left is so 
strong, and indeed resignation entire and complete 
to a higher will ; and so we all feel together, and 
encouraee each other. Life is not endless in this 
world, God be praised ! There is much joy — but 
oh ! so much trial and pain ; and, as the number of 
those one loves increases in Heaven, it makes our 
passage easier — and home is there ! 

Ever your loving child, 

Alice. 

December 6th. 

Louis and Ernie will go out in a shut carriage to- 
day, though it rains — but it is warm. Louis' strength 
returns so slowly. Of course he shuns the return to 
life, where our loss will be more realized ; to him, 
shut off so long, it is more like a dream. I am so 
thankful they were all spared the dreadful realities I 
went through — and alone. My cup seemed very 
full, and yet I have been enabled to bear it. But 
daily I must struggle and pray for resignation ; it is 
a cruel pain and one that will last years, as I know 
but too well. 

Ever your loving child, 

A. 

Amongst the last letters from the Grand Duchess 
is one written on the 6th of December, instructing 
Prince Ernest's new tutor in his duties. Princess 



380 FHINCESS ALICE. 

Alice wished her son to become a truly good man in 
every sense of the word — upright, truthful, coura- 
geous, unselfish, ready to help others, modest and 
retiring. She wished his tutor to encourage in him 
fear of God and submission to His will, a high sense 
of duty, a feeling of honor and of truth. 

It had been settled that as soon as the convales- 
cent patients were able to be moved, the whole 
Grand Ducal family should go to Heidelberg for 
thorough change of air. 

On the 7th of December the Grand Duchess went 
to the railway station to see the Duchess of Edin- 
burgh, who was passing through Darmstadt on her 
way to England. That night she first complained of 
feeling ill ; and on the following morning the unmis- 
takable symptoms of diphtheria had begun to show 
themselves. It is supposed that she must have 
taken the infection, when one day, in her grief and 
despair, she had laid her head on her sick husband's 
pillow. During the first day of her illness she set- 
tled several things, and o-ave various orders in case 
of her death. Still it was evident that she thouo'ht 
she would recover. 

She bore her great sufferings with wonderful pa- 
tience, and was most obedient to every thing the 
doctors ordered her to do, however painful and try- 
ing. Those were terrible days ! How much so to 
her is apparent from short sentences which from 
time to time she wrote down on slips of paper. 
Every thing was done to alleviate her sufferings — 



& 



THE END. 381 

every thing to encourage her. The high fever which 
set in at the commencement of the illness did not 
decrease on the third day as in the previous cases, 
though her sufferings were perhaps not so great. 
At times she was very restless and distressed. In 
the night of the 12th of December she gave many 
directions to her mother-in-law, and to her lady-in- 
waiting. At times, too, she spoke in the most 
touching manner about her household, also enquir- 
ing kindly after poor and sick people in the town. 
Then followed hours of great prostration. 

On the morning of the 13th of December the doc- 
tors could no lonofer disguise from the Grand Duke 
that their efforts to save that beloved life were in 
vain. As the danger increased, the Grand Duchess 
expressed herself as feeling better. She received her 
mother-in-law that afternoon in the most affection- 
ate manner ; also saw her lady-in-waiting ; and when 
the Grand Duke entered her room her joy was most 
evident. She even read two letters — the last one 
being from her mother. After some hours of heavy 
sleep she woke perfectly conscious and took some 
nourishment. She then composed herself to rest, 
saying : " Now I will go to sleep again." And out 
of this sleep she woke no more. 

Shortly after i a.m. on the 14th of December a 
change took place which left no doubt to those 
around that that precious life was fast ebbing away. 
When, a little later on. Princess Charles went into 
the Grand Duke's room, who was then asleep, she 



382 PRINCESS ALICE. 

had left the Grand Duchess perfectly unconscious. 
It required no words of his mother's to break the 
news to him. 

At half-past eight that morning Princess Alice 
died peacefully, murmuring to herself, like a child 
going to sleep : " From Friday to Saturday — four 
weeks — May — dear Papa ! " 

It was exactly to the day four weeks since Princess 
May's death, and seventeen years since the death of 
the Prince Consort. On the following Tuesday even- 
ing, the 1 7th of December, after a solemn service held 
by the English chaplain, the remains of the beloved 
Princess were quietly removed from her own palace 
to the chapel in the Grand Ducal Castle. The next 
day, amidst the universal grief of high and low, the 
coffin was placed in the Mausoleum at the Rosen- 
hohe. Her brothers, the Prince of Wales and Prince 
Leopold, were present. 

A beautiful recumbent monument by Boehm, rep- 
resenting the Princess holding Princess May in her 
arms, is now placed in the Mausoleum over the spot 
where she rests. 




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A 


3e. 



CONCLUDING REMARKS. 



E must leave it to those who have read the 
preceding pages — mere chronicle of facts 
as they are, to form their own idea of the character 
and personality of the Princess. 

Still, the disjointed manner in which the whole 
subject has been treated seems to call for a few more 
additional remarks. 

The world has long been acquainted with the out- 
ward appearance of the Princess — with the delicacy 
of her features, the sweetness of their expression, 
and the dignity and gracefulness of her every move- 
ment. Though so perfectly natural and simple in 
manner, she never forgot that she was a Princess. 
While she knew how to encourage and draw out 
those who, from timidity, kept themselves in the 
background, she also understood how, in a moment, 
to check any thing like forwardness, and, where 
necessary, to silence presumption by a glance. 

Her conversation was bright and animated, pass- 
ing rapidly from topic to topic, but always directed 
to subjects worth talking about. There was a cer- 
tain distinction in the way she dealt even with minor 

383 



384 PRINCESS ALICE. 

matters of daily life. She spoke German with a 
slightly foreign accent, but with a power of idiomatic 
expression that seldom failed her, and showed how 
thoroughly she had mastered the genius of the lan- 
guage. 

Occupation was a necessity to her ; she could not 
understand how any one could be idle. When at 
home, she always had some needlework at hand 
ready to take up. 

The Princess was singularly free from all preju- 
dice, and always endeavored to judge people accord- 
ing to their worth. 

It sometimes happened that she offended people 
by her independent views, but she never knowingly 
hurt anybody's feelings ; innate generosity was a 
striking trait in her character. 

Frank and sincere herself to an unusual degree, 
she always encouraged others to be the same, and 
was most tolerant of well-orounded contradiction. 

In times of trouble and danger, when so much was 
expected of her, her powers seemed to expand. It 
was in such moments that she really showed the 
master-spirit, which remains calm and self-possessed 
when all around lose their heads. 

The Princess took the deepest interest in the 
personal welfare of all around her, even to the hum- 
blest of her servants. This interest was shown by 
many small services, seldom rendered to their ser- 
vants by masters or mistresses. 

With all her appreciation of the purely theoretical 



CONCLUDING REMARKS. 385 

and scientific aspect of things, she was naturally of a 
very practical turn of mind. She had few equals in 
her love and talent for ororanizinof, for communicatine 
her own ideas to those around her, and in turn being 
animated by the views of others. Thus it was that 
she expected not a little from those about her, and 
might almost have given the impression of a very 
restless nature, had not this activity been counter- 
balanced by an unceasing perseverance in carrying 
out and adhering to what she had once undertaken. 

To become acquainted v^^ith great men of every 
profession, whether scholars, artists, or men of 
science, was a real pleasure to her. She loved to 
ofain an insio^ht into their thouo^hts and views, and 
proved herself a very German in her admiration and 
appreciation of serious scientific work. 

Among the arts, music and painting were those 
she loved the best, and cultivated the most. In both 
she was far ahead of even distinguished amateurs. 
Her drawing was free, firm, and bold ; she had a 
decided talent for composition, and was rich in 
inventive power. She had a wonderful eye for 
color, and was especially successful in water-colors. 

She was an excellent musician, and played ex- 
tremely well. Few could read and understand diffi- 
cult pieces at sight as the Princess did. In music, 
as in all the arts, her taste was rather severe. She 
had a great predilection for the classical school. 
Bach, Beethoven, and Schumann, Schubert, Mendels- 
sohn, and Brahams were her especial favorites. 



386 PRINCESS ALICE. 

In theatrical performances she disliked empty 
show and splendor^ — the mere decoration of pieces 
for the . love of decoration. She believed in the 
ennobling influence of the representation of sound 
classical works. 

Her whole being mentally and morally was con- 
centrated in her children and their education, and in 
this she showed herself to be a thorough woman. 
She endeavored to make them feel the worth and 
greatness of both the nations to which they belonged 
by birth. She was apt to be more severe in her 
criticisms of the German mode of education and of 
moral training than of that of her own country. 
That this should have been so is easily to be ex- 
plained. In Germany her life and work were not 
easy, and she knew that it would take time before 
her endeavors for the welfare of her adopted country 
met with recognition, whilst in England, the country 
of her birth and her affection, to which she clung 
with ever-increasing reverence and devotion, she 
knew she was ever becoming more beloved. 

Still, being so thoroughly English as she was, we 
cannot but say that much that was best and finest in 
her character must be considered as the inheritance 
of her German father. A nature such as the 
Princess' could not help coming in contact with 
many deep aud serious questions, in which religion 
alone could help her. 

The traces of perfect trust in God, and entire sub- 
mission to His will, will be found throughout her 



CONCLUDING REMARKS. 38/ 

letters. We know that at one time she wavered in 
her convictions. Althouo^h she never doubted the 
value of practical religion, although she ever turned 
to her Bible for help and comfort in hours of distress 
and anxiety, she had to wrestle heart and soul with 
theoretical doubts. It seems to have been a strug-Sfle 
of many years' duration, at the commencement and 
end of which personal influences played a great part. 
We are indebted to an intimate friend and relation 
of Princess Alice's for the following communication, 
which is in accord with the observations of others 
who knew her : 

"After her son's death I thought I observed a 
change in her feelings. Before that time she had 
often expressed openly her doubts as to the existence 
of God — had allowed herself to be led away by the 
free-thinking philosophical views of others. After 
Prince Fritz died she never spoke in such a way 
again. She remained silent while a transformation 
was quietly going on within, of which I afterwards 
was made aware, under the influence of some hidden 
power. It seemed as if she did not then like to own 
the chanore that had come over her. 

" Some time afterwards she told me herself, in the 
most simple and touching manner, how this change 
had come about. I could not listen to her story 
without tears. The Princess told me she owed it all 
to her child's death, and to the influence of a Scotch 
gentleman, a friend of the Grand Duke's and the 
Grand Duchess', who was residing with his family 
at Darmstadt. 

" 'I owe all to this kind friend,' she said, 'who 
exercised such a beneficial influence on my religious 



388 ' PRINCESS ALICE. 

views ; yet people say so much that is cruel and un- 
just of him, and of my acquaintance with him.' At 
another time she said : * The whole edifice of phil- 
osophical conclusions which I had built up for my- 
self, I find to have no foundation whatever ; noth- 
ing of it is left; it has crumbled away like dust. 
What should we be, what would become of us, if we 
had no faith, if we did not believe that there is a God 
who rules the world and each single one of us ? I 
feel the necessity of prayer ; I loved to sing hymns 
with my children, and we have each our favorite 
hymn.' * 

" I remember observing that her table in her room 
was covered with religious books of all languages. 
Some of them she recommended to me." 

The German Protestant form of worship did not 
satisfy her. Her own English liturgy, with its fine 
simple prayers and benedictions, with its many ap- 
pointed lessons from Holy Writ — the old Testament 
especially, — with its sermons confined to a limited 
time, pleased her more. At the same time she 
always acknowledged with gratitude and admiration 
that the great spiritual hero who was the first to de- 
mand as a right absolute sincerity in the life of faith, 
and so brought on the Reformation, was a German. 

The Princess had a very wide knowledge of history. 
Her political opinions were independent, entirely 
free from party prejudice, and based on the principle 
she had imbibed from her father — that Princes exist 
for the welfare of their people. 

* This memorandum does not go far enough. The Princess returned to 
the faith in which she was reared, and died in it, a devout Christian. 



CONCLUDING REMARKS. 



389 



Future generations must ever acknowledge how 
the Princess Alice throughout her life strove to ful- 
fil the saying of her favorite hero in history, "the 
great Fritz" (Frederic the Great, in his " Anaima- 
chiavell"): " The rulers of nations must set the ex- 
ample of virtue to the world." 





APPENDIX. 



THE beautiful sketch which follows appeared in 
the Darnistddter Zeitunz, dated " Christmas 
Eve, 1878 " ; and the annexed translation of it, by 
Sir Theodore Martin, appeared a few days afterward 
in the Times. 



A WATCHER BY THE DEAD. 

Long, long before daybreak on one of those 
gloomy December days of last week, an officer made 
his way hurriedly along the empty, silent streets of 
the capital. He was in full uniform, but its pomp 
and splendor were shrouded in a thick covering 
of crape, lor he was afoot thus early to do duty by the 
bier of the beloved Princess. Desolate were the 
streets, as of a city of the dead ; desolate as though 
tenanted only by the dead was the lordly palace 
to which he bent his steps. The sentinels at the 
great gate stood motionless, despite the severe cold, 
as if they feared to disturb the repose of death. 
Here, where the inhabitants of the capital used to 
see all astir with the busy, cheerful life inseparable 
from the residence of a reigning Prince; here, where 
in days but recently gone by children, blooming and 
beautiful, the country's pride and the joy of their 
princely parents, gave animation to house and garden, 

391 



392 FJinVCESS ALICE. 

all was silent and void ; a deadly blast had swept over 
the till now so happy home. The country's young, 
idolized mother had closed her beautiful eyes, closed 
them for evermore, after doing and enduring nobly, 
after tasting the bitterness of great earthly sorrow. 
Many long and woful days, many nights of even 
greater anguish, had she watched, trembled, and 
prayed by the couch of a husband sick unto death, 
and of five children beloved past telling. The sweet, 
youngest bud in the fair wreath of princely children, 
had been torn from her bleeding heart, and tears — 
scalding tears — for the sweet little May-blossom, 
which she had herself put to its last sleep under 
chaplets of flowers, flowed fast, as she folded her 
hands in gratitude, when the peril of death had 
passed over the heads of her husband and her other 
children, " Thus do we learn humility !" she said, 
with quivering lip, to a lady who stood beside her. 
" God has called for one life, and has given me back 
five for it ; how, then, should I mourn ? " And now, 
when, with fear and trembling, joy seemed about to 
enter once more into that heavily-stricken home, 
again the dark pinions of the Angel of Death were 
heard upon the air, and he bore away the truest 
of wives, the most lovino- of mothers, a sacrifice to 
duty fulfilled with the noblest forgetfulness of self. 
These were the thoughts with which the solitary 
wayfarer went upon his sorrowful way, and crossed 
the threshold of the chamber of death. With light 
step and whispered words the watchers by the dead 
whom he relieved withdrew. 

Overwhelmed by the majesty of death, which met 
him here in its most sombre form, the new comer 
bent his head and continued long in silent prayer. 
The Princess lay on a bier in the great hall on the 



APPENDIX. 393 

ground-floor, where she had so often sat surrounded 
by a radiant circle of guests. What of her was 
earthly, cased in a triple cerement, was covered with 
a pall of black velvet, which, however, was almost hid 
from view beneath a mass of flowers and palms. 
Upon the head of the coffin stood a little, simple 
crucifix of perfect artistic workmanship. Six torches 
on pedestals, hung with black, stood round the bier, 
shedding but a feeble glimmer through the hall, 
scarcely brighter, indeed, than the scanty light of the 
dawning winter day. From the wall opposite the 
coffin the youthful image of her husband, painted in 
happier times, looked sadly down upon the loved 
one lost. Directly opposite hung the picture which 
the Hessian Division had had painted for their much- 
loved leader, in remembrance of the glorious day of 
Gravelotte — a picture of battle and of the wild melee 
of slaughter in the silent chamber of death. He 
who now watched by the coffin had played a part in 
the conflict of the memorable day which the picture 
was meant to perpetuate, and he knew how deeply 
it was interwoven with the life of the Princess 
who lay there in her long last sleep. Her dear 
husband had gone to the campaign with his faithful 
Hessians ; she knew his precious life to be in hourly 
danger ; but her own sorrows and cares were 
not her first thought. Helpful, comforting, encourag- 
ing, she gave at all times to those who were left be- 
hind a brilliant example of cheerful and devoted 
courage ; and when the wounded and sick came 
back from the battlefields in ever-increasing num- 
bers, she it was who everywhere took the lead with 
noblest self-abnegation and practical good sense. 
By the beds of the sick and dying she stood like 
a comforting angel, and the love of the Hessian 



394 FRnvc£.ss alice, 

people twined the fairest of all diadems, the aureole 
of the heroine, round her princely brows. 

This grateful love, not only of those who bore 
arms, but of the citizen and artisan as well, for which 
these things laid the foundation, was now sincerely 
and unconstrainedly busy beside the bier of the 
princely sleeper. Servants came, with loads of 
wreaths and bouquets, and arranged them upon the 
coffin. But it was not the official tributes of flowers 
from Court and noble, from the deputations of regi- 
ments far and near, which were laid as a mournful 
homage at the feet of the dead mistress, that touched 
most deeply the heart of him who stood there on 
guard. No, the tear that stole down unbidden, the 
little trivial gift of the poor and humble who lived 
far away from Court favor, had a greater value in his 
eyes. It was still quite early morning when, with 
the first glimmer of day, came an old peasant woman 
from the Odenwald. Advancing timidly, she laid, 
with a murmured prayer, a little wreath of rosemary, 
with a couple of small white flowers, perhaps the 
only ornament of her poor little room at home, as a 
token of grateful affection down upon the velvet pall. 
Then, thinking herself unnoticed, she took a rosebud 
from one of the splendid wreaths, and hid it under 
the old woollen dress. Who could interfere to balk 
the impulse of genuine affection, that longed to carry 
off some slight memorial with it ? And now the 
little flower is lying between the leaves of the old 
Bible, and in days to come the matron, when she 
turns the leaves of the sacred volume, will tell her 
daughters and granddaughters of the noble lady, too 
early snatched away from her people — of her, who 
never forgot the poorest and the humblest of them all. 

Anon appeared the bearer of one of the proudest 



APPENDIX. 395 

names in Hesse, who was attached to the personal 
service of the Princess. The official, stalwart bear- 
ing of the courier was left outside, and, weeping hot, 
unhidden tears, he lingered long by the bier. To 
what a lofty soul, to what goodness of heart, was he 
saying here a bitter farewell ! He was followed by 
two little girls, poorly but cleanly dressed, and they, 
too, brought their tribute of gratitude — two little 
bunches of violets. Shyly, almost frightened, and 
yet with childish curiosity, they drew slowly nearer. 
They thought of another winter day, some years ago. 
Hungry, chilled to the heart, they were sitting in an 
empty attic ; their parents were dead, and they ate 
among strangers bread that was hard and grudgingly 
given, when that great lady appeared who was now 
sleeping here under the flowers. From her, whose 
heart was ever yearning to the orphan's cry, they 
heard again, for the first time, gentle, loving words ; 
by her provision was quickly made for their more 
kindly treatment, and gratitude was rooted firmly 
and forever in their young souls. 

A deputation from the Court Theatre laid upon 
the coffin a wreath intertwinec , with pale pink 
streamers. Art, too, had come ~-o mourn for her 
noblest patroness, who had been ever ready with her 
fine, cultivated intelligence to advance whatever was 
great and good. A servant brought a beautiful 
cross, of dark foliage with white flowers. It was the 
gift of the Grand Duke's mother, anxious to testify 
by an outward sign her love for her dead daughter. 
In ever-growing numbers came the mourners, all 
visibly oppressed by the weight of the calamity which 
had fallen upon the country. Countless were the 
gifts of love, of gratitude, of respect, which, now 
beautiful and costly, now slight and simple, arched 



39^ FJilNCESS ALICE. 

ever higher and higher the hill of flowers above the 
coffin. The ladies of the neio-hborino^ towns sent 

o o 

cushions of dark violets, with chaplets of white 
flowers. Two ladies deeply veiled brought branches 
of palm, from the dark green of which gleamed a 
white scroll — a poetic farewell word of deep feeling : 

A hurricane, charged with destruction, 
O palm, swept o'er thee. The squall 

Crashed through thy leaves, and tore from thee 
The tenderest, sweetest of all. 

The clouds clear'd away in the distance, 

The tempest seem'd over and past. 
When forth from the firmament darted 

A lightning-bolt, fiery and fast. 

It struck thee, O noble one, struck thee ! 

It crush'd thee, and now thou art gone ! 
Farewell ! To our death-day thine image 

Still, still in our hearts shall live on. 

There was a second poem, enclosed in a heart- 
shaped framework of leaves, which gave expression 
to the grief of a devoted soul for the high-hearted 
lady. A 

But now the hovir was come for another to take 
the post of honor by the bier of the Princess. Silently 
and sadly the two men saluted. He that left took 
away with him a deep and elevating impression of 
the general love and respect paid by the people of 
Hesse to their too-early departed Princess, and the 
remembrance of that silent watch by the dead wifl 
remain in his memory forever. And he who now 
entered on that honorable duty could chronicle proofs 
of genuine grief, of true reverence and love, not 
fewer nor less touching. Whosoever is thus bewept 
has secured the best and fairest memorial in the 



APPENDIX. 397 

hearts of her own people for all time™ "The remem- 
brance of the just abideth in blessing." 

Nothing could show better than this touching nar- 
rative, how deep and how widespread was the grief 
for the death of the Princess throughout the country 
which had so recently hailed her as its Sovereign. 
Not less deep and universal was the sorrow with 
which the sad intelligence was received in her native 
land. She had long been dear to all hearts there ; 
for the fame of her many admirable qualities as 
daughter, sister, wile, and mother had penetrated in- 
to every houshold. The news that her life was in 
peril had awakened the deepest sympathy ; and 
when the anniversary of the death of the father she 
loved so well brought the tidings of her own death, 
there were few homes on which it did not cast a 
shadow as for the loss of one that was personally 
dear. The journals teemed with expressions of the 
national grief, each vying with the other in paying 
affectionate tribute to the worth of one whose name 
had long been familiar and cherished on the lips of 
her countrymen and countrywomen, and in assur- 
ances of sympathy to the Queen, and the loving hearts 
of her kindred, on whom this great calamity had fal- 
len. 

It may not be out of place to insert here, as an 
example of these, what w^as written out of a full 
heart on the day of the Princess' death by the hand 
which had not yet concluded the task of tracing the 
"Life of the Prince Consort," in which the Princess 



398 PRINCESS ALICE. 

had all along taken the keenest interest. The letters 
printed in this volume afford the amplest proof of the 
justice of the estimate which the writer had formed 
of the gifted and devoted woman whose heart is 
there laid bare for our study and instruction. 

" Oh, sir, the good die first, 
And those whose hearts are dry as summer dust 
Burn to the socket." — Wordsworth. 

December 14th, 1878. 

On the 14th of December, seventeen years ago, a 
great sorrow fell upon England in the death of the 
Prince Consort, who, if he did not die too soon for 
his own happiness and fame, died at least, as all now 
feel, too soon for England. The memorable 14th of 
December has again come round, and again a great 
sorrow has fallen upon the country. The Princess 
has been taken to her rest, who watched and soothed 
the Prince Consort in the last days of his fatal illness, 
and who by her fortitude and noble devotion helped 
materially, though then but a girl of seventeen, to 
sustain and comfort the widowed Queen in her 
measureless affliction. For the first time a breach — 
and such a breach — has been m.ade in that family cir- 
cle to which all who had the priviledge to know it 
looked as the happiest in England — happiest, because 
mutual love and esteem bound all its members to- 
gether by ties knit in childhood and never broken, 
and because of the noble activity for good which had 
been set before them in the example of their parents 
kept their hearts fresh and their minds ever open. 
She who, while yet a girl, was called to play a 
woman's part by her father's deathbed, has been the 
first to follow him into the Silent Land. 

No life could have opened more auspiciously than 



APPENDIX. 399 

that of the second daughter of our Royal house.* 
From the first she gave great promise of beauty and 
of intelHgence. The fine old English names of Alice 
and Maud, selected for her by her happy parents, 
seemed as names sometimes do, to be particularly 
fitted to the winning, open character of her fair and 
finely-formed features, and their sound was one pleas- 
ant in the mouths, not only of those to whom she 
was known, but of the people, as she grew up and was 
seen in public by the eager and kindly eyes to whom 
the sight of the Royal children has always been wel- 
come. 

When the marriage of the Princess Royal took 
place in i858, the Princess Alice was still only a girl 
of fifteen ; but she had already developed qualities 
of mind and heart of no ordinary kind. She came 
by degrees to fill up in some measure the vacancy 
which had been created by the removal of her very 
gifted sister to Berlin. Naturally she was drawn 
nearer to the Prince Consort ; and the influence of 
his character and the teachincrs of his affectionate 
wisdom sank deeply into her pure and highly intel- 
lectual nature. He looked forward to her future 
with the assurance that she would prove all he could 
wish a daughter to be. She, on the other hand, 
loved him with a devotion only temipered by a pro- 
found reverence for the great qualities which she 
could then, perhaps, but dimly appreciate, but the 

* " She is a pretty and large baby, and we think will be la Beauts oi the 
family." — The Queen to King Leopold, gth May, 1843. 

" Our little baby, whom 1 am really proud of, for she is so very forward 
for her age, is to be called Alice, an old English name ; and the other names 
are to be Maud {^r\o\\\tx old English name, and the same as Matilda), and 
Mary, as she was born on Aunt Gloucester's birthday." — The same to the same 
l6th May, 1843. 

"Our christening went off very brilliantly, and I wish you could have 
witnessed it. Nothmg could be more anstdndig, and little Alice behaved ex- 
tremely well." — The same to the same, 6th June, 1843. 



400 FHINCESS ALICE. 

true extent and worth of which her own subsequent 
experience and reflection taught her more thoroughly 
to measure. When in later years she spoke of the 
Prince, one saw that, as Ben Jonson said of Shake- 
speare, " she honored his memory, on this side idol- 
atry, as much as any." 

The teaching of that beloved father was put to the 
proof in those sad days of patient watching which 
preceded his death. Things were told at the time 
of the devotion and the marvellous self-control of the 
young girl, called so sternly and so suddenly to face 
death in the person of a father, on whose life that of 
the Queen herself seemed to depend, and whose 
counsels she knew to be of inestimable value to the 
nation, A few days after the Prince's death, she 
was spoken of by the Times in these noticeable 
•words : " Of the devotion and strength of mind 
shown by the Princess Alice all through these trying 
scenes it is impossible to speak too highly. Her 
Royal Highness has, indeed, felt that it was her place 
to be a comfort and a support to her mother in her 
affliction, and to her dutiful care we may perhaps 
owe it that the Queen has borne her loss with ex- 
emplary resignation, and a composure which, under 
so sudden and terrible a bereavement, could not 
have been anticipated." The knowledge of this fact 
— and it was a fact — -sank deeply into people's 
minds. It was never forgotten, and from that day 
the name of the Princess Alice has been a cherished 
household word to all her countrymen and women. 

When, in 1862, she married the husband of her 
choice — a man whose sterlinof worth and manliness 
had satisfied even the critical judgment of parents 
jealous for the happiness of a daughter so justly dear 
- — the affectionate good wishes of the Queen's subjects 



APPENDIX. 401 

of all grades went with her to her new home. In that 
home, brightened and ennobled as it was by her pres- 
ence, her love for the home and country of her youth 
burned with a steady and ever-deepening glow. It 
is only those who know how strong is the mutual 
love by which the children of Queen Victoria are 
bound to their parent and to each other, who can 
appreciate the passionate yearning toward England 
of the Princesses whose homes have been made 
elsewhere. England and all its interests held a fore- 
most place in the heart of the Princess Alice ; and 
no one watched more closely every phase of the 
changeful life of the busy land, which she loved and 
reverenced as the home of liberty and the pioneer of 
civilization. 

While fulfilling with exemplary devotion every 
duty as a wife and mother, the process of self- culture 
was never relaxed. Every refined taste was kept 
alive by fresh study, fresh practice, fresh observa- 
tion ; neither was any effort spared to keep abreast 
with all that the best intellects of the time were 
adding to the stores of invention, of discovery, of 
observation, and of thought. Each successive year 
taught her better to estimate the value of the princi- 
ples in religion, in morals, and in politics in which 
she had been trained. As her knowledge of the 
world and of men grew, she could see the wide 
range of fact upon which they were based, and their 
fitness as guides amid the perplexing experiences of 
human life, which, however seemingly varied in 
different epochs, are ever essentially the same. 
Then the significance of the Prince Consort's habit 
of judging every thing by some governing principle, 
and working always by strict method, became clear 
to her; and in a letter written in January 1875, of 



402 PJilNCESS ALICE. 

which a copy Is before us, the Princess writes with 
her accustomed modesty: "Living with thinking 
and cultivated Germans, much in Papa has explained 
itself to me, which formerly I could less understand, 
or did not appreciate so much as I ought to have 
done." 

She inherited much of her father's practical good 
sense, and, like him, was ever ready to take part in 
any well-directed effort for raising the condition of 
the toilworn and the poor. How much of their 
misery, nay, of their evil ways, was due to their 
wretched habitations, she, like him, felt most keenly ; 
and she gave her sympathy and support to every 
effort for their improvement. With this view she 
translated into German some of Miss Octavia Hill's 
essays " On the Homes of the London Poor," and pub- 
lished them with a little preface of her own (to which 
only her initial A. was affixed), in the hope that the 
principles, which had been successfully applied in 
London by Miss Hill and her coadjutors, might be 
put into action in some of the German cities. No 
good work appealed to her in vain. The great 
exemplar of her father was always before her ; and 
in the letter from which we have already quoted she 
speaks of his life, " spent in the highest aims, and 
with the noblest conception of duty," as a " leading 
star " to her own. , 

That sense of duty carried her to the bedside of 
the Prince of Wales when, at the end of 1871, he 
was struck down at Sandringham by the fell disease 
under which his father had sunk. There she fulfilled 
the same priceless offices which she had ten years 
before discharged at Windsor Castle. It pleased 
Heaven to spare her a renewal of the great affliction 
of 1 86 1 ; and in the very days of December in which 



APPENDIX. 403 

we are now living, the life of the much-loved brother, 
which had been wellnigh despaired of, came slowly 
back to requite her affection, and in answer to her 
prayers. 

The trials of that time came, before the exhaustion 
had passed away both of body and mind which the 
Princess had undergone during the Franco- German 
war. Separated — and for the second time — by war 
from the Prince of Hesse, who w^as away in the 
thickest of the perils of that campaign, she was not a 
woman to give herself up to morbid brooding on the 
pangs and apprehensions under which, devoted wife 
as she was, she yet could not fail to suffer most 
acutely, for her feelings were warm, and her imagina- 
tion active beyond that of most women. In the hos- 
pital at Darmstadt, crowded with the soldiers, French 
as well as German, who had come from the battle- 
fields maimed and racked with pain, she was foremost 
with her bright intelligence, her helpful sympathy, 
and her tender hand, in soothing pain, and inspiring 
that sense of manly gratitude which is the best of 
panaceas to a soldier's sick-bed. What she was and 
what she did at that time have embalmed her image 
in many a heart, and will make the tears flow thick 
and fast in many manly eyes at the thought of the 
death of one so young, so good, so gifted, and so 
fair. To her it was merely duty — duty to be done 
at every cost ; but how much it had cost to that 
finely touched spirit and to that delicate womanly 
frame might be read, by all who could look below 
the surface, in the deep earnestness of her eyes and 
the deeper earnestness of her thoughts. The pain 
of that terrible period would not let itself be forgot- 
ten even in the gratitude which she felt for the 
providence which restored her beloved husband 



404 FJilNCESS ALICE. 

to her side, and for the reahzation of her father's 
cherished dream of an United Germany, which had 
been purchased by the valor and the sufferings of 
its sons. 

The Princess' fortitude had already been severely 
tried in the war between Prussia and Austria in 1866. 
Hesse- Darmstadt was engaged upon the side of 
Austria, and her husband, Prince Louis, took the 
field with the troops of the Principality. At the very 
time that his third daughter, the Princess Irene, was 
born, he was with the army ; and the Princess Alice 
knew he was under fire but was unable to get any 
tidings from him. The victorious Prussians marched 
into Darmstadt, while the Princess, newly made a 
mother, was still confined to her room. 

Of the sad aspects of life it had been her destiny 
to see much — as daughter, as sister, and as mother. 
In June, 1873, a terrible calamity fell upon her as 
a mother. A child — one especially beloved — climb- 
ing to an open window in a room adjoining that in 
which she was, lost its balance, and was killed 
almost before her eyes, as she rushed in terror to 
call him back. This, too, had to be borne. It was 
borne nobly, and with Christian resignation. But 
such shocks tell upon the vital powers, and some 
trace of what had been " undergone and overcome " 
seemed to be visible long afterward in a perceptible 
bodily languor, and in a more spiritual beauty which 
had passed into her expressive face. 

The thought of this sent an anxious thrill through 
the hearts of many, when it became known that the 
Princess was herself seized by the terrible malady 
which had prostrated her husband and five of her 
children, and taken from her the youngest of them 
all — the youngest, the brightest, the idol of her other 



APPENDIX. 405 

children.* She had nursed them all through their 
time of danger, and now, spent with watching and 
anxiety as she was, the malady had laid its fatal 
clutch upon herself. She that had cared and thought 
for all was soon past all human care to save. Thus 
she died as she had lived, devoted, self-sacrificing, 
purified by great pain and great love — a model 
daughter — wife — m.other. 

Of the loss of such a woman to the husband 
to whom she was the all-in-all, to the children 
to whose love she will respond no more, to the 
mother in whose thoughts she is interwoven with 
the sweetest, the saddest, the most sacred memories, 
to the brothers and sisters whom she loved and who 
loved her so truly, so tenderly, who dare trust him- 
self to speak ? It must be long before the grief can 
be assuaged, undej which all these must now be 
suffering — before the " Idea of her life can sweetly 
creep," as something hallowed, " into their study of 
imagination" ; but the day will come when they will 
bless God, that theirs was a wife, a daughter, a 
sister, a mother, so good, so noble, and that, having 
fought her fight on earth valiantly, yet meekly, she 
has gone where there is no more sorrow, nor crying, 
and where the great mysteries of life alone find their 
solution. Theodore Martin. 



Of the many beautiful tributes in verse to the 
worth of the Princess, which appeared in England 

* The struggle to conceal from the other children that their favorite was 
dead cost the Princess, down to the time of her own fatal seizure, such a 
daily and almost hourly effort as, in her weak state, she was ill able to bear. 
Her sufferings during her short illness, which lasted less than a week, were 
borne with exemplary patience, and an unselfish and even cheerful 
spirit which were truly admirable. The day before she died, she expressed 
to Sir William Jenner her regret that she should cause her mother so much 
anxiety. 



406 PH IN CESS ALICE. 

immediately after her death, none spoke the prevail- 
ing feeling more truly than the following : — 

IN MEMORIAM. 

Princess Alice: ^/<?^ December 14th, 1878, 

Death's shadow falls across the Palace door, 
His fingers trace our dear Princess' doom ; 

"She will awake no more ; ah ! never more ! " 
And through the murky night the big bells boom. 

But in the gray of morning hope appears, 

And treading in death's footprints entrance seeketh 

Where lonely grief is weeping bitter tears, 

And whispers low — " She being dead yet speaketh." 

And at the voice of hope the black clouds break, 

And through the rift there shines God's glorious light ; 

And we who mourn look up and solace take 

As those to whom comes day — dawn after night. 

"She being dead yet speaketh " — all may hear 

The message left us by her lovely life 
In deeds that live, in actions that endear, 

As Princess, sister, daughter, mother, wife ! 

The fierce rude light that beats upon a throne 

For which so many royal heads are hid, 
Served but to make her worth more widely known, 

To glorify the acts of grace she did. 

A favorite sister ! She the love had earn'd 

Her brothers and her sisters for her felt, 
By her devotion which had brightest burn'd 

When with disease and threatening death she dealt. 

A darling daughter ! 'T is the Queen alone 

Can know the secret of that awful time, 
When at the father's side by her were shown 

A faith and constancy alike sublime. 



APPENDIX. 



407 



A doting mother ! What could she do more 
Than for her little one her life lay down ? 

No heroine than this could higher soar — 
No grander deed a noble life could crown ! 



A perfect wife ! The heavy veil of grief 

Back from the stricken hearth we will not draw, 

Save but to say her life, alas ! too brief, 

Her husband found without one spot or flaw. 

Then let not grief persuade us she is dead ; 

She has but left us for a fairer shore ; 
And though her spirit heav'nwards may have fled, 

Her influence remains for evermore. 



■ Truth. 



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